Americans traveling to Europe should be vigilant when in open-air areas with lots of people, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday.
John Kirby, speaking on CNN, said the terrorist attack in Berlin is a prime example of why people need to be extra cautious when traveling to Europe during the holiday season. No Americans are believed to have been harmed in the attack in western Berlin where a man drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market, killing 12 and injuring 50.
“We don’t want to discourage people from traveling to Europe or elsewhere around the world,” Kirby said. “It’s just a matter of being alert and cognizant of your surroundings.”
The State Department issued a travel alert for Europe in November before the holiday travel season began, and Kirby said there was no specific information that led to that alert.
Kirby said he shopped in the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin-Charlottenburg a few weeks ago when on State Department business in Berlin. In situations where Americans are visiting large public gathering places in Europe, they need to be aware of potential danger, he said.
“We want people to be vigilant, we want them to be self-aware, we want them to keep their head on a swivel,” he said.
Kirby also touched on the assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey who was shot and killed in Ankara Monday. He said the U.S. has offered its assistance to Russia and Turkey as they investigate Karlov’s death, reportedly at the hands of a Turkish police officer who was acting as Karlov’s security detail. Karlov was visiting an art gallery and making a speech at the time of his death.
“It’s absolutely despicable and reprehensible,” Kirby said. “Here we have a diplomat doing what diplomats do … and he certainly had no reason to suspect this will be his last event, his last day.”
