Austria Suggests Stricter Anti-Terrorism Measures Following Foiled Taylor Swift Attack Plan
The Austrian government has announced plans to strengthen the country’s ability to combat terrorism following last week’s foiled plot to target Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna.
Three teenagers, aged between 17 and 19, were apprehended in Vienna and nearby Ternitz in connection with a terrorist attack plan against the pop star’s concerts on Aug. 8, 9, and 10, which were ultimately canceled by the organizers. They continue to be held in custody.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer outlined a series of measures in response to the incident, including efforts to combat political Islam and the reintroduction of conditional mandatory pre-trial detention for young individuals in cases of murder and terrorism.
Moreover, Nehammer proposed enhancing Austria’s intelligence services to better combat extremism and terrorism.
Battle Over Encrypted Messages
One of the contentious proposals is to allow monitoring of phone messages and control of encrypted messages by implementing technical measures, which is currently not permitted under Austrian law.
Nehammer, whose party is up for reelection next month, stressed the need for greater power for intelligence agencies to intercept encrypted messages.
However, Austria’s strict privacy laws have resulted in opposition to these efforts, particularly from the Greens, the ÖVP’s coalition partners.
Under Austrian law, those involved in the Taylor Swift plot cannot be publicly identified.
A defense lawyer for the 19-year-old suspect disputed the prosecution’s claims, stating that his client only engaged in “fantasies” and had no actual means or intent to carry out an attack.
The lawyer also mentioned mental health issues and the suspect’s lack of social connections, noting that the pledge of allegiance to ISIS made online was done out of interest and later removed.
In a separate incident in November 2020, a gunman with connections to ISIS claimed the lives of four individuals in Austria.
Opinion polls ahead of the upcoming election suggest that the Freedom Party may pose a significant challenge to the ruling party.
The government has not responded to requests for further comments on the matter.
*The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
