Police Have Already “Increased Security”, Will Not Say How

Police say they have already increased “special security measures” in the wake of the Paris attack, but will not disclose what measures these are. Both the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister believe Iceland needs to heighten its alertness against terrorism.

Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Minister of the Interior Ólöf Nordal, and Chief of the National Police Haraldur Johannessen met today to discuss how Iceland should respond to last Friday’s attacks in Paris, RÚV reports.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Haraldur said that he made it clear to both ministers that the police will need “pre-crash funding” in order to meet the growing demand for security, and that the police will need to do some more hiring.

“We have taken special security measures during the weekend, which I cannot disclose, in keeping with the nature of the matter,” he added.

The Prime Minister told Vísir that he believes Iceland needs to “assess whether we need to make any changes” in terms of security and police work, adding that he relies on the word of the police to know “whether the police in Iceland have the equipment and resources they need for this situation”.

The Interior Minister told RÚV that there was “no doubt” that the threat of terrorism has increased in Iceland, and added the subject of refugees to the mix.

“We know that there is a large stream of ordinary people seeking refuge,” she said. “People fleeing difficult circumstances. But we also know that in this mass there are all kinds of people traveling, and we need, all countries, to be aware of that.” She added that people living in Iceland will not be subject to increased surveillance.

For the record, the only link to refugees the Paris attacks show so far is that one of the killed attackers had a Syrian passport laying next to him which had been registered at a Greek refugee centre – and this passport may have been planted. The other suspects identified so far were born in either France or Belgium.