“We will not give in,” says France’s Macron after Vienna shootings

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday evening that the French share the shock and sorrow of the Austrian people following the shootings in Vienna, pledging that “our enemies must know who they are dealing with. We will not give in.”

“After France, it is a friendly country that is attacked. This is our Europe. Our enemies must know who they are dealing with. We will not give in,”

said Macron on Twitter.

Earlier in the evening, shootings hit several locations in central Vienna. Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said the shootings appeared to be a terrorist attack with multiple perpetrators.

France has been placed on its highest level of terrorism alert since three people were killed by a knife attack at the Notre-Dame basilica in the southern city of Nice. On Oct. 16, a history teacher was beheaded outside a middle school in Paris suburbs.

Abbas, Macron express rejection of violence, extremism

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron denounced on Monday all kinds of violence, extremism, and terrorism in the world, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Abbas told Macron on the telephone that everyone must respect religions and religious symbols, the report said.

Macron said he respects Islam and the Islamic world and didn’t mean to offend them, adding that he differentiates between terrorism and extremism, and Islam and the Islamic world, it said.

Meanwhile, Macron told Abbas that France’s position is stable towards achieving peace in the Middle East based on the two-state solution under international law, the report said.

Read alsoShootings in central Vienna appear to be terrorist attack, says minister – VIDEO, PHOTO