“I believe that the threat of terrorism will continue to accompany us in 2024, and no one will take that away from us. This abstract danger is there, as long as the situation in the Middle East is as it is, and there is no improvement at all But there is no change to be seen in the Middle East either,” said Pürstl in an interview with the APA recently.
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The head of the Vienna police also spoke regarding the need for intelligence and state police observation of the pro-Palestine demonstrations. “It’s a mixture of law enforcement and security police on the one hand and state police tasks on the other.” Pürstl emphasized that it is important to find a balance in the police’s actions in the fight once morest terrorism. “By taking measures that give the population the confidence that ‘they’re already doing it’. On the other hand, not exaggerating the measures and making things that people want impossible. You simply mightn’t hold events one might say, ‘please close churches’, only then would exactly what every terrorist wants to be achieved, namely to destabilize the state, the governments and society.”
It was very clear that during the pro-Palestine demonstrations “hatred was of course also stirred up and that there was also an increase in anti-Semitic statements,” said Pürstl. There is very good cooperation with the Israelite Community (IKG). “One thing is very clear, and every police officer in Vienna knows this: there is no place for anti-Semitism. This is something where we are alert and take consistent action and report any suspicion, no matter how small. We will definitely continue on this path “, emphasized the state police chief.
