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CEP Senior Research Analyst Sofia Koller writes: Neither France nor Germany remains spared from the threat of Islamist terrorism: In France, the threat level remains high. In February 2026 alone, two 16-year-old boys were charged with planning a terrorist attack, and a released extremist offender attacked a gendarme with a knife at the Place de l’Étoile in Paris. Germany, too, remains “unabatedly in the crosshairs of ISIS,” as the knife attack in Solingen in August 2024 demonstrated. In the fight against Islamist extremism and terrorism, however, rapid and effective responses to such security risks are in a constant tension with the rule of law and long-term violence prevention. Germany and France—close friends, neighbors, drivers of European integration, and competitors—weigh these factors differently on this issue. Therefore, it is worth briefly comparing the three most important differences in counterterrorism.
[CEP Senior Director] Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler views Tehran’s threat as a kind of act of desperation, but he also stresses that this warning must be taken seriously. While it may not be “our war,” he says, it is “our problem.”
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed on Islamist extremism in Germany and the death of Khamenei.
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed, with quotes at 1:55 and 2:41.
U.S. President Trump is asking for help in securing the Strait of Hormuz, calling on NATO, among others, to step up. But many countries feel sidelined by Washington and are refusing. Europe, however, should have used the situation to strike a “deal in Trump’s style,” says Iran expert [CEP Senior Director} Hans-Jakob Schindler.
The Jewish community is being shaken by a worldwide series of terrorist attacks. Expert Hans-Jakob Schindler explains what this has to do with the hybrid warfare of the Iranian mullah regime.
Middle East expert [CEP Senior Director] Hans-Jakob Schindler analyzes the situation in the Middle East and explains how things might unfold in Iran: “There are three scenarios, none of which is particularly good for Europe.”
“The threat level regarding terrorist attacks in the USA and Europe has increased due to the conflict with the Islamist regime in Iran,” Counter Extremism Project Senior Director Hans-Jakob Schindler tells the Sun. “Currently, however, it’s an abstract threat, meaning that it is likely the regime will attempt to carry out attacks in the USA and Europe as part of its hybrid warfare strategy, but no warnings about concrete attacks have been received until now.”
Extremist networks linked to ISIS have called for attacks against Hindus in India and across South and Southeast Asia, even as they praised recent violence in the United States and expanded online recruitment, according to a new report by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), nonprofit and non-partisan international policy organization
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler appeared on the podcast to discuss al-Qaeda terror cells in Germany.
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