At first glance, Vienna's city centre looks like usual in post-pandemic times: a dense stream of people on the shopping street Kärntnerstraße, Stephansplatz a teeming anthill. The second glance falls on a civilian SUV with dark windows, which stands with the engine running in a side street in front of the Gothic portal of the church. In the front seats, police forces can be seen in full gear, weapons ready to hand on their laps, who grimly return the curious look.
Stephan Löwenstein
Political correspondent based in Vienna.
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On Wednesday afternoon, what the Viennese police had previously spread via Twitter manifested itself: "The Directorate of State Security & Intelligence Service obtained indications that an Islamist-motivated attack is planned in Vienna." As a "precautionary measure" had been ordered to guard "neuralgic" places more intensively. Specifically, these were churches and ecclesiastical institutions in the city area, to which the references had apparently referred. But it was officially said that these were precautionary measures. "Should there be a concrete danger for the population in a specific place," will be warned via all available channels.
A search took place in the early afternoon in a building of the Vienna University of Technology (TU). However, according to a police spokesman, it remained without result. The "Kronen-Zeitung" reported that there were apparently plans to attack institutions of the Syrian-Christian diaspora in the Austrian capital. A Syrian jihadist group has spread such threats. However, there was no official confirmation by the authorities.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Vienna confirmed that they had been informed about increased controls. But "the danger of assassination is not so evident that a closure of the churches would be necessary." The founder of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Austria, Emanuel Aydin, told the APA news agency that officials had been in the vicinity of his church in Vienna's Favoriten district and had spoken to members of the community. According to the APA, a witness reported a major police operation in the morning in the vicinity of this church.