EU reports recorded 58 terrorist attacks in 2024 and flagged suspects under 20 and unprecedented use of generative AI in extremist propaganda; the European Commission’s separate incident series lists 120 incidents in 2023 and 58 in 2024.
Europol's 2025 EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report counted 58 terrorist attacks in the bloc during 2024. Thirty-four went ahead, five failed and authorities prevented 19. The agency also reported 449 terrorism-related arrests across 20 member states. The European Commission's historical series shows 57 incidents in 2019 and 120 in 2023 before returning to 58 the following year. Those counts do not measure deaths or overall threat severity.
In its ProtectEU agenda, the European Commission said almost one-third of terrorism suspects in the EU in 2024 were under 20, and the youngest suspect was 12. Europol said it observed minors making online connections, becoming radicalized in groups and preparing attacks. The figures concern suspects and reported activity; they do not mean every young person investigated was convicted or carried out an attack.
Europol said right-wing extremists were using generative AI to produce propaganda and hate speech at unprecedented levels. The Commission also pointed to social media, gaming platforms and algorithms that amplify content as factors in recruitment and radicalization.
In an interview published by The Jerusalem Post on Nov. 13, Prof. Assaf Moghadam, executive director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University, argued that technology and changes in armed groups' tactics are making terrorism harder to classify. “The boundaries between different forms of political violence, including terror, are gradually eroding,” he said. Moghadam also said some armed groups combine attacks on civilians with battlefield-style operations, and that local conflicts can draw in outside powers.
The Commission's ProtectEU agenda proposes a prevention toolbox for minors and cooperation with Europol to use AI to detect extremist content.
