Organisers of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week cancelled them on Wednesday after authorities announced arrests in connection with an apparent plot to carry out a terrorist attack at a concert-like event in the Vienna area.
Event organiser Barracuda Music said on its Instagram account that the concerts had been cancelled due to the threat of terrorist attacks.
Earlier on Wednesday, authorities said they had arrested two extremist suspects, one of whom appeared to be planning an attack on an event in the Vienna area, such as the upcoming concerts. The concerts were to be held in Vienna on August 8-10.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer called the cancellation of the concerts “a disappointment for all fans” in a publication on X, but stressed the seriousness of the threat of a terrorist attack in Vienna. According to Nehammer, the threat was identified through co-operation with Western services.
Austrian police arrested two people on suspicion of terrorism on August 7. Law enforcers considered concert venues to be their targets. According to Franz Ruf, head of the public security service, law enforcers identified “relevant preparatory activities” and also established that the alleged 19-year-old attacker was focusing specifically on Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. Meanwhile, police have announced plans to beef up security measures at concerts in the capital.
One of the suspects was detained in the town of Ternitz, south of Vienna. Police believe he had become radicalised online and had sworn allegiance to the “Islamic State.” The second suspect was detained the same day in Vienna.
Earlier, the media reported that in Warsaw, environmental activists of the organisation Ostatnie Pokolenie blocked the entrance to a Taylor Swift concert in protest. They posted a video of the action in social networks. The protesters blocked the road near Poland’s largest National Stadium.
