French minister warns of resumption of ‘Islamist terrorist’ threat in Europe

There’s a risk of a “resumption” of the “Islamist terrorist” threat in Europe, France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said during a visit to the U.S.

Stressing the importance of anti-terrorism collaboration between intelligence services from both sides of the Atlantic, Darmanin said in an interview with Agence France-Presse that “for Europeans and for France the primary risk is Sunni Islamist terrorism.”

While pointing to concerns facing the U.S., including shootings and white supremacism, Darmanin said Americans mustn’t forget “what appears to us to be the primary threat in Europe,” which the minister said was Sunni terrorism.

Darmanin also highlighted the risk of people carrying out a “Bataclan-type attack,” referring to the Paris attacks in 2015 that saw 130 people killed, including 90 at the Bataclan theater.

France has seen several terrorist incidents in recent years, including the stabbing of a police officer in 2021, which led President Emmanuel Macron to declare that France would never give in to Islamist terrorism.

In the AFP interview, the French minister also criticized the U.S.’s exit from Afghanistan and warned about the risk of the rebuilding of ISIS cells in the Levant.