PET: The terror threat against Denmark has intensified

The terror threat against Denmark has heightened due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. This is stated by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, PET, in connection with the publication of the report ‘Assessment of the Terror Threat against Denmark,’ which has been issued today.

According to PET, the terror threat against Denmark is categorized as ‘serious,’ which is level four out of five. In addition to the conflict between Israel and militant groups in Palestine, which escalated following Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7th last year, PET also points to cases of violations of Islam as a reason for the heightened threat.

“Both Quran desecrations and the conflict in the Middle East have a consequential significance for the threat picture in Denmark. Overall, it is our assessment that the terror threat against Denmark has heightened within the current level. We also assess that these dynamics will continue to impact the threat picture in Denmark in 2024, and we consider the terror threat heightened against Denmark and Danish interests abroad for at least the coming year,” says Michael Hamann, head of the Center for Terror Analysis at PET.

A threat to democracy in the longer term PET’s Center for Terror Analysis assesses that the terror threat from anti-authority extremists in Denmark continues to be at a limited level. Anti-authority extremism has evolved from largely being driven by narratives associated with the authorities’ efforts in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic to now being characterized by several parallel, wide-ranging, and fluctuating agendas. This contributes to the continued activity of the anti-authority extremist environment and the dominant enemy images in the environment being largely driven by a number of conspiracy theories.

“Free debate about and the possibility of criticizing the authorities’ efforts are fundamental parts of democracy. In contrast to this, the dissemination of demonstrably untrue narratives and conspiracy theories have the potential to both inspire violent attacks primarily on individuals and, in the longer term, erode trust in authorities and essential prerequisites for democracy,” says Michael Hamann.

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