Portugal raises terrorist threat level from 'moderate' to 'significant'

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Portugal’s Security Intelligence Service (SIS) on Monday raised the terrorist threat level from “moderate” to “significant.”

The measure is “preventative and precautionary” and does not mean authorities have detected an uptick in terrorist activity in Portugal, the SIS said in a statement on Friday.

Instead, the move was said to be a reaction to what is happening in other European countries.

“The terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7 caused an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and added more complexity to the Islamist terrorist threat in Europe, as shown by the occurrence of terrorist attacks on European soil,” said the SIS.

On Oct. 13, France announced it was on high alert after a suspected Islamist terrorist killed a teacher and injured three others in the north of the country.

In Brussels, two Swedish nationals were shot dead in another suspected terrorist attack at a football match last week.

Portugal is now on level three on a five-point terror alert scale. This, according to the statement, means Portuguese authorities will proactively monitor the security situation and adopt passive and active security measures when necessary but “always in a context of adequacy and proportionality,” it said.

Neighboring Spain has not increased its terrorism alert system, but the interior minister said the country was “reinforcing” its level four situation.

Spain has had its terrorism threat level set at four out of five since 2015.