Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack in downtown Vienna, in which four people were killed and numerous others injured. To commemorate the occasion, Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler (SPÖ), Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP), Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), and former Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) will lay wreaths at Desider-Friedmann-Platz, near the site of the attack, to honor the victims.
Also attending the commemoration are State Secretary Jörg Leichtfried (SPÖ), National Council member Martina von Künsberg Sarre representing NEOS, the Director General for Public Security Franz Ruf, and Vienna Police Chief Gerhard Pürstl. Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) is unable to attend due to medical recovery following back surgery.
President Alexander Van der Bellen stated on Sunday via Twitter: “The memories of November 2, 2020, stay with us. But we also carry the certainty that hatred can never be as strong as our community in freedom, democracy, tolerance, and love.”
Interior Ministry highlights implemented measures
The Ministry of the Interior recalled Sunday that the terrorist attack represented an extraordinary challenge for Austria’s security authorities. It pointed to the extensive reviews of the emergency response and the resulting reforms in areas such as state protection, public security, and special operations units. With the creation of the Directorate for State Protection and Intelligence (DSN) under the new State Protection and Intelligence Service Act (SNG), a major modernization step was achieved.
NEOS Secretary General and security spokesperson Douglas Hoyos also emphasized targeted measures in security and deradicalization, as well as close cooperation with European partners. “Protecting the people of our country remains the top priority,” said Hoyos. “Even five years later, the pain runs deep.”
Freedom Party recalls “system failure”
For the FPÖ, remembrance of the terror victims also serves as “a reminder of systemic failure.” The horrific attack was “not an unavoidable fate,” said FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl in a statement, “but the terrible consequence of unprecedented political and institutional failure, for which no one has yet taken full responsibility.” Under then–Interior Minister and later Chancellor Karl Nehammer, “all warning signals were ignored,” Kickl charged. A parliamentary commission of inquiry found “serious deficiencies” within the authorities’ handling of counterterrorism efforts. According to Kickl, Austria’s security structure has “barely improved” under the ÖVP since then.
Green Party leader Leonore Gewessler, by contrast, recalled that “in the dark hours following the attack, Austria’s strength became clear — civil courage, solidarity, and unity.” Terrorism, she said, aims to sow fear and hatred: “We confront terrorists with all the means of our constitutional state, with unity, and with our values.”
Attack in 2020 killed four and injured over 20
In the deadliest terrorist attack in modern Austrian history, on the evening of November 2, 2020, a 20-year-old Islamist opened fire on passersby in the “Bermuda Triangle,” a popular nightlife area in central Vienna. He killed four people and injured more than 20 others before being shot dead by police nine minutes after the attack began.
