Why was suspected Berlin Pride attacker Abdul B. not in prison, and how alert are German authorities to the threat from Islamist terrorism? DW put these and other questions to terrorism expert Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director, Counter Extremism Project. 

Live interview with Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler, terrorism expert and Senior Director at the Counter Extremism Project), about the terrorist attack at Christopher Street Day in Berlin during the 2026 annual Pride celebrations.

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler appointed to new German government Task Force. “The Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) is replacing its advisors in the fight against Islamism. The previous Task Force on Islamism Prevention, which began its work under the previous government in October 2024, will be further developed in terms of content and reorganized in terms of personnel, the ministry announced on Friday.”

A new permanent advisory board on the prevention of Islamism is being established at the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). This new group of experts replaces a task force founded only last year by former Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). The board includes Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Counter Extremism Project.

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Watching Novembre, Cédric Jimenez’s 2022 dramatisation of the manhunt for the perpetrators of the November 2015 Bataclan massacre, what stands out is the gaping chasm between how France and Britain have reckoned with jihadism – an ideological threat that has irrevocably altered both our societies, far more than we would care to admit."