The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 2 travel advisory for Germany due to fears of terrorism, meaning those traveling there should “exercise increased caution.”
“Terrorist groups keep planning attacks in Germany,” and “may attack with little or no warning,” the State Department noted.
The agency added that terrorists could target tourism and transportation hubs, as well as shopping destinations, hotels, clubs, restaurants, local government facilities and major events.
They did not give the exact motivation of the likely terrorists, although last year Europol warned that the vast majority of terror-related crimes in the EU are Islamist-inspired.
The State Department commented that those who do decide to travel to Germany should pay attention to their surroundings, follow the instructions of local authorities, be aware of the latest breaking news in the area and adjust their plans, if necessary.
It also urged travelers to create a contingency plan for emergency situations and sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive alerts and make it easier for the State Department to locate them in case of an emergency.
The warning comes after Canada raised its own security advisories for the whole of Western Europe, which it did in late March.
Germany is the only European nation to have an elevated travel warning from the U.S. for this year except for Ukraine-bordering Moldova, which finds itself similarly flagged.
Since the European Football Championship will be held in Germany between June 14th and July 14th, it could be deemed a tempting target by terrorists. Terror threats have previously been aimed at high-profile football games.
The UK’s foreign travel advice even went as far as noting “a high threat of terrorist attack globally affecting UK interests and British nationals,” citing various terror attacks that took place in Germany in recent years.
These include a killing and severe injury from a knife attack in Dresden in 2020, as well as two mass shootings at bars in Hanau that killed eight in the same year.
In 2019, two people were fatally shot near a synagogue in the city of Halle.
In addition, for the last two years, and especially since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, Germany has seen a marked rise in Islamism-inspired terror plots.
Thus far, it has largely managed to discover and foil these, although getting a handle on lone wolves remains a sizable challenge.
