Gerald Darmanin is concerned about the "resurrection" of the threat of "Islamic terrorism" in Europe

During a visit to the United States, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanen expressed concern over the "resurrection" of the "Islamic terrorist" threat in Europe. He also called on the US government to increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"We have come to remind them that for Europeans and French the main risk is Sunni Islamic terrorism and intelligence cooperation in countering terrorism is absolutely necessary," the minister said in an interview with AFP on Friday. New York.

And "at a time when Americans may have a more national perspective on the dispute — white racism, repeated shootings, conspiracies — they must not forget what seems to be the first threat to us in Europe: Sunni terrorism," stressed the French minister.

Gérald Darmanin has concluded a two-day visit to Washington, New York and the United Nations to strengthen police and judicial cooperation between France and the United States, as provided for in a 2016 agreement to combat terrorism and serious crime. He spoke with Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and then visited the FBI's Federal Police Training Center in Quantico, Virginia.

“Risk rising again”

In New York, he met with NYPD Chief Kitchener Sewell to discuss policing and security at major international events, including the 2024 Paris Olympics (26 July – 11 August 2024) and the Rugby World Cup (8 September to 28 October 2023). and Pope Francis' visit to Marseille on Sept. 23.

In this regard, Gérald Darmanin emphasized, without mentioning any specific threats, that "the danger is increasing again" in terms of "Islamic terrorism" to attack France and its European neighbours again.

He therefore condemned the "withdrawal of America from Afghanistan" and France from the "Sahalo-Sahara Line", "the restoration of Daesh (Islamic State) cells in the Levant, which means that the threat is exogenous in terms of the ... “major event that France will organize is a moment of significant terrorist attack risk.”