Why there are no terror warning levels in Germany

After the terrorist attack near Moscow, France declared the highest security level. There is no such classification in Germany. How do terror warnings work instead? An overview.

In Germany, unlike countries like France, Belgium or Austria, there are no terror warning levels. The German security authorities work with a different system, says the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

How work Terror warnings in Germany?

The Federal Criminal Police Office prepares “periodic and case-by-case risk assessments of the terrorist threat situation,” said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. This assessment is passed on to the federal states.

If the “general risk situation” increases or there is an individual case with a specific risk, “adapted security measures will be implemented immediately.” The federal states then take these measures locally with the respective state police. Unlike France, which is centrally organized, in Germany much of the security issue lies in the hands of the federal states.

What speaks against the warning levels?

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is rather critical of a system with warning levels to inform citizens. The situation can vary depending on the region and also within a city, “so that nationwide warning levels may give the false impression that the danger is the same everywhere,” writes the ministry upon request. The ministry also fears that such warning levels could increase a feeling of insecurity.

The warning levels could be a tool to reach the population, says ARD-Terrorism expert Michael Götschenberg. “But the drug wears off over time because people get used to it when the highest warning level is frequently announced.” In fact, the benefit of such a warning system is rather limited, “because the levels are not linked to concrete rules of conduct for the population.”

Austria, for example, raised the warning level in November last year and wrote that “the population does not have to take any special measures or change their behavior.” This is the only way a society can counteract the goals of terror. The aim is to unsettle the population and to influence social life as negatively as possible.

How should one then assess the threat situation?

Even without warning levels, the security authorities generally provide information about the threat situation. With regard to the attack in Moscow, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that the danger from Islamist terror remains acute. This risk assessment already existed before the current attack and continues to apply.

If it becomes very specific, i.e. an attack plan for a location becomes known, then the security authorities react – as was the case in Germany before Christmas, when it happened There were indications of attack plans around Cologne Cathedral.