The perpetrator of the Krakow attack in Poland was influenced by right-wing neo-Nazi extremists

The Polish Minister of Justice announced on Tuesday that the perpetrator of the Krakow massacre last week was influenced by Anders Behring Breivik, a far-right extremist who is classified as a neo-Nazi, and who in 2011 caused the worst massacre in Norway since World War II, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

Minister Waldemar Zurek said in an interview with reporters: “The security services were able to access the terrorist’s computer, and we noticed that he browsed websites about Anders Breivik,” adding that investigators found on the attacker a “Gadsden flag,” which is a historical American flag with a yellow background with a drawing of a coiled snake in the middle, ready to attack, and the phrase “Don’t tread on me.” This flag has sometimes been associated with far-right movements.

On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a bomb near the government headquarters in Oslo. As a result, 8 people were killed, before he proceeded to kill 69 people, most of them teenagers, after he opened fire in a summer camp affiliated with the Norwegian Labor Party Youth League on the island of Utoya.

Regarding the crime that took place in Krakow, Poland, on Saturday, the Minister of Justice said that the investigations include the circle surrounding the attacker and any possible ideological connections that could have influenced his committing this act.

Without ruling out other hypotheses, especially psychological disorders, Zurek believed that there was “very strong evidence” confirming what the authorities had previously announced regarding the attacker’s adoption of far-right ideas.

It is likely that the perpetrator of the operation had “pre-planned” the crime, noting in particular that he possessed 12 magazines for semi-automatic weapons and about 500 bullets, which far exceeds the needs of an archer who frequents the shooting range.

The perpetrator of the Krakow attack was armed with a rifle, wearing a military uniform, and wearing a mask and a helmet when he carried out the attack. He opened fire from his car at passers-by near a square usually crowded with tourists in the historic center of the city.

The shooting resulted in the killing of 6 people, including a Briton and an Austrian woman, and 15 others were injured, including 5 foreigners of British, Portuguese, Russian, German, and Austrian nationalities.

It is suspected that the killer killed 9 people in total, after 3 other bodies were found in his house about 150 kilometers northeast of Krakow, which turned out to belong to his parents and sister.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepha said that he urged his American counterpart, Marco Rubio, today (Tuesday) to accelerate the delivery of interceptor missiles, at a time when Russia is intensifying its attacks on energy infrastructure with the approach of winter, with the aim of breaking the morale of Ukrainians.

In an interview with Reuters, on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris, Ssibha explained that he urged the United States during his talks with Rubio to continue putting pressure on Moscow, in conjunction with the ongoing diplomatic efforts in Abu Dhabi to reach an agreement to end the war waged by Russia.

He added that Ukraine remains ready to discuss a range of measures to ease tensions, including a ceasefire in the Black Sea region and energy infrastructure.

Ssibha noted that ceasefire proposals in the Black Sea had been conveyed to Russia through intermediaries, including Turkey, Egypt and India, but added that he was “not very optimistic” about progress, and was still waiting for a response from Moscow.

Some skirmishes and disturbances were recorded after students in France closed the entrances to dozens of schools on Tuesday, according to what the Ministry of Education announced, in light of the continuing protests demanding improved study conditions, and the dialogue with the authorities reaching a dead end, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

The student protests that have been taking place in France since September have turned into broader demonstrations against the costs of living in recent weeks, sometimes punctuated by acts of violence and accusations of police brutality against the demonstrators.

This comes before the presidential elections scheduled for next year.

At a time when Europe's second-largest economy is facing pressure to reduce debt, the government does not have much room to maneuver to satisfy protesters by increasing spending.

The Ministry of Education stated that 49 of the country's 3,700 secondary schools, designated for students aged 15 to 18 years, had their entrances closed on Tuesday morning.

The atmosphere was tense in the city of Cheil, east of the Paris region. A deputy mayor was sprayed with gasoline by a young man in front of a secondary school, and she came to try to mediate with the aim of resuming classes.

As for Aix-en-Provence (south-east of the country), a fire, apparently intentional, destroyed part of a secondary school where classes had been regularly suspended since the beginning of the protest movements. At this stage, no link between the incident and the protests has been confirmed.

In the Rhone region (central east), 13 secondary schools and the University of Lyon 2 remain closed, with lessons continuing remotely, but tensions still exist with gatherings in front of 7 institutions in the early morning hours.

240 infected within two months

About 200 demonstrators gathered on Tuesday morning in front of an institute in Lyon. Two young men were slightly injured after security forces used tear gas, and two people were arrested, according to what the governorate announced.

In Rennes (west), the University of Rennes 2, which is a major center for student protests, and where the police intervened on Monday evening, remained closed on Tuesday in a context of “extreme tension,” according to what the college administration announced.

According to the French government, 240 Ministry of Education employees have been injured since the beginning of the high school student protests in mid-September.

In addition to the closure of educational institutions and the call for a strike among teachers, demonstrations are scheduled to be organized in most major cities in France during this “new day of protests,” based on the call of the joint “trade union coordination.”

The scheduled march began in Paris, with the participation of between 2,000 and 4,000 people, according to estimates.

“We will not back down”

In Lyon, about 2,000 young people and teachers gathered in the morning in a square far from the city center to participate in an authorized demonstration.

In Marseille (south-east), a procession consisting of about a hundred people set off since the morning, half of whom were high school students.

Mai Lan (14 years old), a second-year secondary school student, stressed: “We will not back down as long as we do not get an actual answer.”

She added that, so far, the government has provided only “crumbs, compared to what we are asking for.”

The government announced measures that include gradually abandoning the digital platform dedicated to guidance in higher education, and providing financial resources to support the schools most in need. But the protesting students insist that this is not enough.

Unions also considered the government measures unsatisfactory. On Monday, one of its leaders described the government’s pledge to raise the minimum wage by 0.6 percent, in addition to the usual inflation-related adjustment, as mere “crumbs.”

Unions called for a new day of strikes and protests on November 17.

About 575,000 people demonstrated across France, as part of strikes and protests related to the cost of living last Thursday, according to the authorities. Unions estimated the number of participants at 1.5 million.