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After the terrorist attack in Vienna, the police are still looking for at least one suspect. “We are still in the fight against suspected terrorists,” Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told ORF on Monday night. The minister appealed to citizens to avoid public places.
According to a preliminary assessment, an attacker and a bystander were killed in the shooting in central Vienna, and a woman died of her injuries in a hospital that night. In addition, according to rescue services, 15 people were injured, some seriously. Police spoke of six crime scenes.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has already commented on the incident. “The security situation is very tense, especially in the federal capital Vienna. The perpetrators have automatic weapons and are very professionally prepared. It is definitely a terrorist attack,” he told ORF.
On Twitter, Kurz thanked the emergency services who risk their lives. He also wrote: “We will never be intimidated by terrorism and we will combat these attacks with all possible means.”
Austria’s Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen condemned the attack in Vienna and assured the victims of his support. “We are all deeply affected,” the head of state said on Twitter. Thoughts and compassion are with the victims, the injured and their families, he tweeted. The federal president also wrote: “We will defend together and decisively our freedom and democracy by all means.” He is in communication with the government.
Leading international politicians also express their solidarity with Austria and the victims on Twitter. “We French share the shock and pain” that Austrians experienced after an attack in Vienna, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in German.
“This is our Europe. Our enemies need to know who they are dealing with.” You will not give in, then Macron.
The president of the Council of the EU, Charles Michel, has condemned the act as a cowardly act against life and human values. “My thoughts are with the victims and the people in Vienna after the terrible attack tonight,” Michel said. Europe is on the side of Austria.
The President of the EU Parliament, David Sassoli, and the representative of EU Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, made similar statements. Sassoli commented: “We are following the news of another attack in Europe with sadness and horror.” Borrell spoke of a “cowardly act of violence and hatred.”
The head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, assured Austria of her solidarity and also wrote: “We are stronger than hatred and terror.”
Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz writes about “terrible news” and Federal Finance Minister Peter Altmaier said: “The terrorist attack in Vienna is shaking us deeply.”
The Foreign Ministry also announced on Twitter that there were “terrifying and disturbing reports” from the Austrian capital. “Even if the extent of the terror is not yet foreseeable: our thoughts are with the wounded and the victims in these difficult hours.” We must not give in to the hatred that must divide our societies.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also strongly condemned the act. “There must be no room for hatred and violence in our common European home,” Conte wrote on Twitter Monday night. Italy supports the Austrian people. The country thinks of the families of the victims and the injured.
Rome’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio made a similar statement. “Europe must react,” he wrote.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also shocked on Twitter. He wrote to the Austrians: “We are united with you against terror.”
António Guterres, UN Secretary General He also condemned the act: he is following the situation with “extreme concern”.
Guterres expressed his condolences to the victim’s family and wished the injured a speedy recovery. The United Nations is on the side of the Austrian people and their government.
Shortly before the elections, there were also reactions to the fact from the United States: the Democratic presidential candidate of the United States, Joe Biden, wrote about a “terrible terrorist attack” in Vienna. “We all have to unite against hatred and violence,” he says.
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brian said of the attack: “There is no justification for such hatred and violence.”
