A common struggle

Vienna has a particular place in the folklore of Islamism. It was at the city’s gates that Ottoman forces were repelled in 1683, sparing much of Christian Europe the conquest that had happened elsewhere. In recent years, Austria has been left unscathed by extremist militants, partly, it was thought, because it stays out of foreign wars. The terrorist shootings in the capital yesterday, which left at least four people dead and many injured, have changed that.

Most attacks in European cities are carried out by people who live there, though France seems to be attracting wider opprobrium in the Muslim world because of the stand being taken by Emmanuel Macron. The attack in Vienna may be a sign that the incitement against Western democracies is spreading. The one gunman shot dead had previously been in jail for terrorist offences. However, this was not a “lone wolf ” attack but a coordinated series of shootings across the city, bearing the hallmarks of Islamic State.

Sebastian Kurtz, the Austrian chancellor, sought to avoid making a distinction between Christians and Muslims. It was, he said, a “battle between civilisation and barbarism”. Yet leaders of Muslim countries, like Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, so quick to denounce President Macron, have done little to ostracise those carrying out such atrocities in the name of their religion.

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said the fight against terrorism was a common struggle. So it should be, whether countries are Christian or Muslim. Islamic State killed more than 20 people in Kabul on Monday. The terrorists just want to cause mayhem and carnage. With the threat level raised here, too, a united front is needed.