Danish Security Intelligence Service warns terror threat remains high: report

Denmark continues to face a serious terror threat, namely from militants of Islamist movements, according to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service’s annual security assessment published on Thursday.

The overall assessment of the terrorist threat to Denmark in 2024 remains at a serious level – level 4 on a scale of 5 – according to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service’s (PET) annual security assessment published on Thursday.

In particular, the threat from Islamist militants is considered serious, especially in the context of the conflict in Israel, Michael Hamann, head of the PET’s Centre for Terrorism Analysis, wrote on the intelligence service’s website.

“Both the Quran desecrations and the conflict in the Middle East have a secondary effect on the threat picture in Denmark. Overall, our assessment is that the terrorist threat to Denmark has increased at the current level,” he added.

According to Michael Hamann, there is a significant potential for radicalisation and mobilisation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“It is important to emphasise that it is, of course, perfectly legitimate to engage in and have an opinion on the conflict, as long as it is done legally. The many civilian casualties arouse emotions in many people,” he said in the PET press release.

Terrorism has become a more prominent issue in Denmark over the past year.

In August, al-Qaeda called for attacks in Denmark in response to the Quran burnings carried out in Denmark and Sweden by far-right and anti-Islam activists. As a result, Denmark’s terror threat level was raised to 4 out of 5.

In December, the Danish police arrested several people for planning a possible terrorist attack. Much of the case is being kept secret from the public, but Danish media revealed that the police believe there is a link to both Hamas and the outlawed Danish street gang Loyal To Familia.

However, in the wale of the uproar and threats caused by the Quran burnings, the Danish parliament passed a law making it illegal to desecrate in public the holy texts of religions recognised by the Danish state, including Islam.

Sweden also faces a similarly high terror threat level, and a terror attack targeting the Swedish parliament was foiled in Germany earlier this week.

The Swedish Centre against Violent Extremism (CVE) has called for Sweden to amend its Public Order Act to ensure that public events such as Quran burnings can be banned if they threaten national security, but for now, the burning of a book such as the Quran is protected by freedom of expression under Swedish law.

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)