"To gauge the level of threat, elDiario.es spoke to one of the leading experts on the subject: Hans-Jakob Schindler, founder and current director of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) –based in New York and Berlin– and former head of the UN Security Council Sanctions Monitoring Team against the Islamic State (Daesh), Al Qaeda and the Taliban. A diplomat and expert in intelligence and security, Schindler has been studying the evolution and development of organisations considered strategic threats by a large part of the international community since the 1990s."

“Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna cancelled - this has put the 'Islamic State' in the headlines around the world. This is 'a clear signal to sympathizers and donors that we are still active,' says Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project.”

“After the cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna because of an Islamist attack plan, concerns are growing about a further terrorist threat in Europe. But how great is the threat from Islamists? ntv speaks to terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.”

"On this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green”, Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, said that it must haven a “serious” situation that led to the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna."

"'They took advantage of the massive flow of refugees from Ukraine to get into the Schengen area. Once you are in Poland, there are no further border controls. And in the situation where there is war in Ukraine, it is of course much easier to insert a handful of people into this flow of refugees without anyone noticing,' says Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the international non-profit organization Counter Extremism Project."

"The nonprofit Counter Extremism Project (CEP), which has been tracking IS activity in Syria, has likewise been warning of a more active and violent trajectory.

'The level of violence increased in June by every metric compared to May,' CEP said in its monthly report."

"Analysts also have pointed to worrisome indications that the group is resurging, particularly in central Syria. For example, ISIS militants conducted at least 215 attacks in Syria in 2023, a 168% increase over the total in 2022, the international nonprofit Counter Extremism Project said in a March report."

"Al-Baghdadi's appearance caused a stir around the world. Hans-Jakob Schindler, a terrorism expert at the Counter Extremism Project organization, says it was crucial that the caliphate was proclaimed in a mosque, on a prayer pulpit. Because in addition to its ideological function, the caliphate also had a religious one."

"'The importance of Mumin, ISIS-Somalia, ISCAP [Islamic State Central Africa Province] and the al-Karrar office is not in doubt,' said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former senior United Nations counterterrorism official who currently serves as a senior adviser for the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project."