Mikl-Leitner to attend Paris anti-terror meet
Austria’s Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner will be attending an anti-terrorism meeting with US and EU officials on Sunday, hosted by France in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo gun massacre.
The Austrian Press Agency (APA) reports that US Attorney General Eric Holder has confirmed his attendance and that around ten other EU interior ministers are expected in Paris.
Twelve people were shot dead and 11 injured in the attack on the satirical magazine in the centre of Paris.
Mikl-Leitner has said that she is reviewing Austria’s security situation and that the number of Austrians who have returned from fighting in Syria and Iraq after becoming radicalized does represent a threat - although she called for a “prudent response”.
“We cannot allow the pendulum to swing the other way - and any kind of extremism should be discouraged,” she said in a statement to APA.
"These criminals want to divide our society with fear and terror. We must not allow this - otherwise they have already won," she added.
The Interior Ministry says nearly 200 people from Austria have left to join the fighting in the Middle East since the Syrian conflict started more than three years ago.
The offices of Austria’s Der Standard newspaper now has a police guard after it received threats, according to a report in the Heute newspaper.
Chancellor Werner Faymann has said that strengthening the security forces to fight against Islamist criminals is a priority.
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The Austrian Press Agency (APA) reports that US Attorney General Eric Holder has confirmed his attendance and that around ten other EU interior ministers are expected in Paris.
Twelve people were shot dead and 11 injured in the attack on the satirical magazine in the centre of Paris.
Mikl-Leitner has said that she is reviewing Austria’s security situation and that the number of Austrians who have returned from fighting in Syria and Iraq after becoming radicalized does represent a threat - although she called for a “prudent response”.
“We cannot allow the pendulum to swing the other way - and any kind of extremism should be discouraged,” she said in a statement to APA.
"These criminals want to divide our society with fear and terror. We must not allow this - otherwise they have already won," she added.
The Interior Ministry says nearly 200 people from Austria have left to join the fighting in the Middle East since the Syrian conflict started more than three years ago.
The offices of Austria’s Der Standard newspaper now has a police guard after it received threats, according to a report in the Heute newspaper.
Chancellor Werner Faymann has said that strengthening the security forces to fight against Islamist criminals is a priority.
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