ROME — Soldiers and paramilitary troops toting semi-automatic rifles patrolled outside the Colosseum and inside St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, as Italy joined the rest of Europe in beefing up security a day after terrorist attacks killed 129 people in Paris. U.K. officials shut down a terminal of Britain’s No. 2 airport for hours after a man was spotted discarding what looked like a firearm.
Europe has been mostly free of land-based border checks for decades, but the attacks prompted authorities in countries from Belgium to Hungary to reimpose spot inspections of vehicles. Some local authorities vowed to do the work if their national governments don’t.
In southern Germany, Bavarian finance minister Markus Soeder insisted the country needs to know who is entering and railed against cherished European borderless travel, citing the Paris attacks and the continent’s migration crisis.
“The days of unchecked immigration and illegal entry can’t continue,” Soeder told the Welt am Sonntag weekly newspaper. “Paris changes everything.”
And if Germany can’t secure its borders, he said, “then Bavaria can take on this task.”
Soeder, a member of the conservative sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, made the comments as Bavarian officials confirmed that firearms, explosives and hand grenades were found when undercover police stopped a man near the German-Austrian border Nov. 5.
Authorities declined to confirm reports the man appeared to be en route to Paris, but said there were “reasonable grounds” to assume that there may be a link to the Paris attacks. After a request from France, Germany ramped up border controls, focusing on road, rail and air traffic from France to Germany, said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
British officials called in explosive specialists and evacuated the North Terminal at Gatwick Airport after a French man got rid of an item authorities said appeared to be a firearm. The man was arrested on suspicion of firearms offenses, although authorities were not sure whether the weapon was usable.
“Given the events in Paris on Friday evening, there is heightened awareness around any such incident and it is best that we treat the matter in all seriousness,” Detective Superintendent Nick May said.
London was among cities that put in place high-visibility patrols at key locations to reassure citizens, with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe stressing that the “scale of the attacks and the range of weaponry used by the terrorists are a serious cause for concern.”
Britain and Spain did not raise their terror threat levels, but Italy hiked its own to the second-highest possible. In Rome, tourists visiting historic sites ended up seeing heavily armed troops, including 700 soldiers.
No u.s. threats, but authorities prepared
Times Square, French consulates and sports stadiums saw increased security Saturday, but authorities noted the stepped-up patrols were out of an abundance of caution after the Paris terror attacks.
Consulates in New York and Boston received extra security along with French-owned sites in Washington. But elsewhere, including Minnesota’s Mall of America, it was business as usual. Sports venues were mindful of security in response to the attacks, and guards at the Naval Academy’s game against Southern Methodist randomly selected people to screen with metal detectors. Fans were asked to unzip their coats before entering Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
