Jihadist Arrests In The EU Fall As Left-Wing/Anarchist Attacks Soar

According to a new report from Europol, the EU saw a total of 1,004 arrests for terrorism offences in 2019. The overall number of completed, failed and foiled terrorist attacks continued to decrease in the EU in 2019 compared to the previous year, mainly due to a continued downward trend in ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorist attacks.

Ten people died as a result of terrorist attacks in the EU and 27 people were injured. All deaths and the injuries of 26 people were the result of jihadist attacks; one person was injured in a rightwing terrorist attack. In addition to these terrorist attacks, Germany reported two major violent extremist attacks that killed three people and injured several others.

For the territory of the EU, a total of 119 completed, failed and foiled terrorist attacks in 2019 were reported by a total of 13 EU Member States.

The total number of jihadism-related incidents in the EU decreased slightly (21 in 2019; 24 in 2018), but continued to be geographically widespread.

France dominated its EU neighbors in terms of jihadist suspects arrested (with 202) followed by Spain (56) and Austria (43)…

All but one of the seven completed or failed attacks were committed by individuals acting alone, while most foiled plots involved multiple suspects.

However, while Jihadist attacks declines modestly, the number of arrests on suspicion of leftwing or anarchist terrorism in 2019 more than tripled, compared to previous years.

The majority of arrests were linked to violent demonstrations and confrontations with security forces in Italy.

 

Europol defines Left-wing and anarchist terrorism as follows:

Left-wing terrorist groups are pursuing via violent means to trigger the revolution against the political, social and economic system of a state, in order to introduce socialism and eventually establish a communist and a classless society.

Their ideology is often Marxist-Leninist. Examples of left-wing terrorist groups are the Italian Brigate Rosse (‘Red Brigades’) and the Greek Revolutionary Organisation 17 November.

Anarchist terrorism, is an umbrella term, is used to describe violent acts committed by groups (or to a lesser extent by individuals) affiliated with different anarchist ideologies. They promote a revolutionary, anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian agenda. Examples of anarchist terrorist groups are the Italian Federazione Anarchica Informale (‘Informal Anarchist Federation’) or the Greek Synomosia Pyrinon tis Fotias (‘Conspiracy of Cells of Fire’).

For left-wing and anarchist terrorists and violent extremists, the internet remained the preferred tool for awareness-raising, propaganda and recruitment activities. Websites containing left-wing and anarchist rhetoric served as platforms to spread ideology, through the posting of communiqués and the exchange of ideas.