French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin expressed, during a visit to the United States, concern about a rising “Sunni-Islamist terrorist” threat in Europe, calling on the US government to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The official recalled that the US government has different security issues like white supremacism and repeated shootings; however, for Europe, the “Sunni terrorism” remains the top threat. He did not further elaborate on this last matter.
Gérald Darmanin wrapped up a two-day visit to Washington and New York to boost police and judicial cooperation between France and the United States, provided for under a 2016 agreement on counterterrorism and criminality.
Darmanin regretted the departure of Americans from Afghanistan and that of France from the Sahel zone, as well as the reconstitution of ISIS cells in the Levant, making terrorist threats exogenous.
This Islamophobic statement coincides with Toulouse police services conducting profiling operations for Muslim students who were absent on the day of Eid Al-Fitr.