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This Sunday, a few hours before the start of the Poland-Netherlands match in Hamburg, a man took an ax and a Molotov cocktail and threatened anyone on the busy Reeperbahn street. He also addressed the police officers who were there and they ended up shot and seriously injured. This attempted attack is not, however, the only one that marks this Euro Cup: this Friday, the German police shot a man who stabbed three people in Wolmirstedt and in Berlin a man was arrested after the police found a lost backpack inside a fanzone. .

This Sunday’s incident led to the creation of a security perimeter and the concentration of about 200 police officers in that area, after the attacker was taken to the hospital. And the issue of security is once again a topical issue, at a time when Germany has created a strong police force to receive the millions of fans who will pass through the stadiums until July.

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Three people stabbed on the first day of Euro 2024

On the first day of Euro 2024, three people were stabbed when they were at a private party to watch the Germany-Scotland match, in Wolmirstedt, a city about 130 kilometers from Berlin.

Two of the three people attacked were seriously injured and the attacker, a man of Afghan nationality, was shot by the police, who fired as soon as they arrived at the scene. The 27-year-old man also tried to attack the officers with the same object, but ended up being shot and died while being taken to the hospital.

Euro 2024. A man armed with an ax and incendiary products injured by police in the Hamburg fanzone

The motive for the attack has not yet been revealed, but it is known that before stabbing three people at the Euro 2024 celebration party, the attacker killed another man, 23 years old and of the same nationality, in another residential neighborhood. .

Fan Zone blocked due to lost backpack

Also before the opening whistle of the first match of this Euro 2024, the Berlin police found a backpack in a fanzone, where thousands of fans were. The area was immediately blocked and the authorities prevented the entry of more people and created a 200-meter security perimeter.

After finding the backpack, criminal technicians were called and dogs were used to detect explosives. Although the contents of the backpack were not revealed, a man was detained on suspicion of leaving the object there, and authorities later said, according to the newspaper Bild, that “the backpack did not contain dangerous objects.”

The fanzone ended up being reopened shortly after, when the threat was already ruled out.

German security plan for the euro

There are almost three million fans who will pass through the stadiums in Germany and around 12 million people will be in the fanzones to watch the games during the months of June and July. Inevitably, the risk increases and the German authorities prepare a security device based on an analysis of various threats, which include terrorism and even cybersecurity, and also in the context of the conflict that is being experienced worldwide with the war in Ukraine. and the Israeli-Israeli war. Palestinian conflict.

At the beginning of the month, Nancy Faeser, Germany’s Interior Minister, assured that “the police will have a strong presence in places where there is movement of large numbers of people.” And they were, for example, Temporary police centers were created. in areas where there are more fans.

In stadiums, backpack searches are mandatory and only those with a ticket are allowed access to the stadium area. However, one of the biggest security challenges is the fanzones, where thousands of people gather. There are between 800 and 1,300 police officers around the stadiums.

To assist in operations, Germany also called in about 300 police officers from other countries and opened an International Police Cooperation Center in Neuss. This center works in coordination with Europol and has a room with 129 computers, which allow you to follow what is happening near and inside the stadiums.