"According to experts from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France has opted for a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this alliance is transparent – ​​in early 2024, the emirate has committed to investing 10 billion euros in the French economy."

“... According to experts from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France has opted for a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this alliance is transparent - in early 2024, the emirate has committed to investing 10 billion euros in the French economy. The hidden part is much larger and is growing silently as Qatar's significant investments in the French sports and luxury sectors gradually increase. The Qatari government owns luxury hotels in Paris, Cannes and Nice, a stake in Bernard Arnault's famous French brand, LVMH. The Qataris own the Printemps department store and a majority stake in Paris Saint-Germain. In 2022, France became the second European destination for Qatari investments after the United Kingdom, with assets of more than 25 billion euros, and we are only talking about direct purchases by Qatari entities.” 

"... According to the experts of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France has decided on a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this alliance is transparent — at the beginning of 2024, the emirate pledged to invest €10 billion into the French economy. The hidden part is much larger and silently grows as Qatar’s significant investments in France’s sports and luxury sectors gradually increase. The Qatari government owns luxury hotels in Paris, Cannes and Nice, a stake in Bernard Arnault’s renowned French brand, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Qataris own department store company Printemps abd own the majority of the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club’s shares."

"'Was it embarrassing? Absolutely,' said Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project. 'But was it a security threat to the Olympics and its participants? Absolutely not.'

'They’ve done a fairly good job at making sure that everyone at the Games was safe,' he said."

"The French authorities face the major challenge of organizing these games because the individual events are taking place in the country's densest urban area, terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project told ZDFheute."

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler quoted: "The Russian actions come as no surprise to terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler. The aim of such a disinformation campaign is to spread uncertainty, he explained to ZDFheute."

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: “Are we being ‘poisoned’ by extremism? The Prime Minister seems to think so. His speech on the steps of Downing Street following the Rochdale by-election described a country where values of tolerance and civility were being deliberately undermined by Islamists and the far right. ‘Islamist extremists and the far right feed off and embolden each other,’ he warned. But in conflating those two threats, the Prime Minister made the same mistake as his predecessors.”

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed for story: "There's growing concern about the violence the Israel-Hamas war could be inspiring here in Europe. Over the weekend a German tourist was fatally stabbed in Paris. The suspect was identified as an alleged radical Islamist with mental health problems. Several other European security agencies have made arrests over alleged plots in recent weeks and warn of an escalated terror threat. European security agencies are taking precauctionary measures fearing an increase in islamist attacks fueled by the Israel-Hamas war. There are hightened fears after an attack in Paris over the weekend killed a German tourist. The attack came as France had issued its highest counter-terrorism alert Is that a new dimension to the threat facing Europe?"