Frenchman held for plot to attack synagogues, other targets, at Euro 2016

Ukraine’s intelligence agency SBU said on Monday it has thwarted a plot to attack soccer’s European Championships in France by arresting a Frenchman who attempted to cross from Ukraine into the European Union armed to the teeth.

The SBU said in a statement it had followed the man since December and allowed him to purchase five machine guns, two rocket propelled grenades and other weapons before he was arrested on the border between Ukraine and Poland last month.

The man, later named as Gregoire Moutaux, was driven by ultra-nationalist views and planned 15 attacks on bridges, railways and other pieces of infrastructure for Euro 2016 that is to be held in France, the SBU said.

Moutaux was a confirmed Islamophobe and anti-Semite, and specifically wanted to targets mosques, synagogues, and “large crowds building up around Euro 2016,” said the SBU.

Extremist attacks are a major concern for French authorities as they prepare to host the month-long tournament at stadiums in the Paris area and eight other cities from Friday through July 10. Islamic State extremists have threatened France during the tournament, but authorities have not confirmed specific dangers.

France is deploying 90,000 members of security forces for the tournament, and French President Francois Hollande said Sunday night that the threat of attacks won’t affect its success.

Ukrainian authorities released photos of a fair-haired man, with his face blurred, holding various weapons.

The SBU said the French man came up on their radar last year during his stay in eastern Ukraine, and where he was “trying to establish ties with Ukrainian troops under the guise of volunteering.”

Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists have fought in the east since April 2014, killing more than 9,400 people. It was not immediately clear which side of the conflict the French man had stayed at.

“The Frenchman spoke negatively about his government’s migration policies, the spread of Islam and globalization,” the SBU said. “He also said that he wanted to perpetrate acts of terror in protest.”

Last month Russia’s security chief said his agency had tracked down a group working to prepare “Paris-style” attacks in major Russian cities.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, the top KGB successor agency, said it cracked the group in February in cooperation with Kazakhstan’s security service.

He said that the group’s members were planning to go to Syria to join the Islamic State group after conducting the terror attacks “under the Paris scenario.” Bortnikov didn’t say how many suspects have been arrested or give any further details.

A video posted online by the SBU appeared to show the arrest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekpjzjNFIXI

A devastating series of attacks in Paris in November 13 last year left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. Most of those killed were hostages in the Bataclan concert hall.

Hollande on Sunday acknowledged there was a threat of an attack during the Euro 2016 football championship but said the country must not be intimidated.

He also issued an appeal for a halt to transportation strikes that threaten to disrupt the soccer extravaganza.

“This (attack) threat exists,” he told public radio France Inter. “But we must not be daunted. We must do everything to ensure that the Euro 2016 is a success.”

The United States warned last week of the risk of attacks, with the French stadiums hosting the games but also the so-called fan zones where spectators will be gathering in large numbers potential targets.