EU police agency criminalises anti-Frontex campaign and No Border movement
The international network Abolish Frontex has sharply criticised its mention in Europol’s latest anti-terrorism report. It is a criminalisation of dissent intended to prepare for violent repression of the activists involved there, the network said in a statement to “nd”. The Hague-based EU police agency had named Abolish Frontex in May in its “EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report” (TE-SAT) for 2023. There, Europol collects terrorist incidents in the 27 member states and related arrests.
The fact that Abolish Frontex appears in the TE-SAT raises questions. For as Europol itself writes, this report is “primarily focuses on presenting the situation on terrorism in the EU”, but also mentions “violent extremist acts and activities, and on non-violent extremist acts and hateful narratives”. It remains open why this should apply to Abolish Frontex. The network currently consists of 132 groups and organisations, including from sea rescue or legal advice, as well as the self-organisation of refugees. “Abolish Frontex is working towards ending the EU border regime; dismantling the border-industrial complex, and building a society where people are free to move and live,” says the website on its goals.
No Border movement also named in report
In Europol’s “Trend Report”, Abolish Frontex is not directly described as terrorist, but appears under the heading “Left-wing and anarchist terrorist attacks, arrests, convictions and penalties” and the sub-heading “Activities and topics” there. A “No Border movement” is also mentioned in the TE-SAT, as it “within the left-wing and anarchist extremist spectrum advocates for the abolition of borders and freedom of movement worldwide”. According to Europol, the activists, described as “extremists”, propagate “narratives in support of their own perceptions on migration”. In this context, the border agency Frontex in particular is “seen as a stark enemy”, Europol writes.
After all, Europol also counts a border camp in August 2022 in Rotterdam among the networks that favoured left-wing terrorism. According to Europol, “extremists from all over Europe” would have participated in discussions and workshops held there with a focus on abolishing Frontex. These discussions did indeed take place, a participant confirms to “nd”. However, the camp was completely peaceful and, moreover, rather small with about 150 participants.
“This is clearly about stigmatising left positions, ideas and forms of action as extremist,” criticises Cornelia Ernst, a left MEP, in response to a question from “nd”. The Europol paper reads in parts like old reports by the domestic secret service from Germany. “Europol is thus laying the foundation for further criminalisation of no-border activists,” said the MEP, who has her constituency in the city of Dresden in Saxonia.
Four dead after jihadist and right-wing extremist motivated attacks
In the TE-SAT report, Europol also looks at other terrorist threats, including in the categories of right-wing, jihadist, ethno-nationalist or separatist. In all areas, the police agency counts a total of 28 completed or failed attacks for 2022, many of which were carried out with incendiary devices. Among these planned or completed acts, 16 were classified as “left-wing and anarchist terrorism”, two as jihadist terrorism and one as right-wing terrorism.
However, acts attributed to left-wing activists are comparatively harmless, as Europol also admits. Last year, for example, there were four fatalities, two of which were due to jihadist-motivated acts in Belgium and France and two to a right-wing extremist terrorist attack in Slovakia.
Overall, the number of attacks fell drastically with the Corona pandemic; in 2020, Europol still reported 56 incidents. However, the police agency writes that the decrease could be due to “changes in Member States’ classification of attacks as terrorist versus violent extremist”. In the 2022 reported incidents, police officers had been a main target of violent attacks by “left-wing extremist and anarchist actors”. The incidents involved deliberate and targeted attacks against police officers both on and off duty, including on private vehicles and homes.
Attack plan on left-wing festival in Austria unknown there
As far as is known, Europol is not itself responsible for researching terrorist incidents, arrests and activities of networks, but refers to reports from the member states. Who prompted the mention of the anti-Frontex campaign and the No Border movement remains open. In the case of the Rotterdam No Border camp, it seems likely that it was the police or the domestic intelligence service of the Netherlands.
Sometimes individual governments also report events that are not even known in their own country. In the annual report of 2022, for example, the police agency informed about a planned right-wing extremist attack on a left-wing festival. Only later did it come out in the country that it was the Viennese “Volksstimme” festival.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: Abolish Frontex
