“Alarm before the first match of the Euro Cup in Berlin,” some media headlined this Friday in what in the end was nothing more than a backpack abandoned at the entrance to one of the fan areas in the German capital. “It did not contain any dangerous objects,” a police spokeswoman confirmed hours later. The management of the incident – which included a 200-meter security perimeter, the evacuation of part of the fan zone and the intervention of dogs specialized in the detection of explosives – is another example of the importance that Germany is giving to security in the competition, which begins this Friday with Germany-Scotland.
For one month, 51 matches will be played in 10 German cities, attracting 2.7 million spectators to their stadiums and streets. It is estimated that another 12 million will follow the matches in the fan areas. A security challenge that keeps the authorities alert despite the fact that, as the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, said last week, “there are no concrete signs of a threat.” Despite this, the police force is overwhelming. You just have to go to the Berlin fan zone, the largest “fan mile” (Fanmeile, in German) in the world, according to the city’s tourist office, to check out the exhaustive backpack checks at the entrances. . The Interior has assigned 22,000 Federal Police agents alone to monitor the Euro Cup, the largest deployment since its founding in 1951.
In addition, around 350 foreign police officers will provide support to the German Federal Police, with a further 230 international officers deployed to the International Police Cooperation Center (IPCC) in Neuss (North Rhine-Westphalia) to exchange and share information. The agents, who come from all the countries participating in the tournament, will be part of joint patrols at railway stations, airports and borders, and will be in charge, among other things, of monitoring their hooligans more dangerous to avoid confrontations. The Spanish National Police has sent 31 agents to collaborate with the German authorities.
Despite there being no concrete signs of threats, “100% security can never be guaranteed,” said the Minister of the Interior. That is why vigilance is maximum to “recognize and prevent dangers at an early stage,” she added. Threats range from Islamist terrorism to cyber attacks and violent clashes between hooligans. “Safety is our top priority,” Faeser has insisted these days.
In Germany, there is particular concern about the diffuse threat posed by the terrorist group ISIS-K, the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, which has been inciting its followers to commit attacks during the European Championship. In one of its publications on social networks, the group even mentioned the venues of Munich, Dortmund and Berlin as possible targets to score “the last goal” there. On June 7, an alleged follower of the Islamic State was arrested at the Cologne-Bonn airport who, according to several German media, had tried to work in security for the Euro Cup. As reported by the State Attorney General’s Office, he was arrested on suspicion that he supports a foreign terrorist organization. Among other things, money transfers to an ISIS-K account have been detected. Added to this arrest was a previous arrest of two people in March also suspected of sympathizing with the Islamic State who apparently wanted to carry out an attack in Sweden in response to the burning of Korans.
Germany has also imposed temporary border controls, which began a week ago. They are not only carried out on the land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria, where they have already existed for a few months due to the increase in irregular migration; but also on the borders with Denmark, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, where until now they had not existed because they were all within the Schengen area.
With such strict security controls, the backpack incident in Berlin, which forced an hour-long evacuation of the fan enclosure in front of the Reichstag, will probably not be the last. “If in the end nothing happens, it was better to be overly cautious than to fall short,” Faeser said tonight, before the opening of the Euro Cup in Munich and the first match of the tournament, Germany-Scotland.
You can follow The USA Print in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
