Terrorist threat shaped by global developments
The terrorist threat to Denmark and Danish interests abroad remains significant. The threat landscape is increasingly shaped by global security developments, and state actors - especially Iran - have had a growing impact on the terrorist threat over the past year. This appears from the "Assessment of the Terrorist Threat to the Kingdom of Denmark" for 2026.
Overall, the terrorist threat to Denmark remains at the level of significant, which is level four out of five.
This appears from the "Assessment of the Terrorist Threat to the Kingdom of Denmark", which is the overall assessment of the terrorist threat to the Kingdom of Denmark and Danish interests abroad by Centre for Terror Analysis (CTA).
The terrorist threat to Denmark continues to be driven largely by known ideologically motivated terrorist groups and individuals with recognizable and predictable agendas, objectives and methods.
However, the nature of the threat landscape has markedly changed in recent years. Aside from ideologically motivated terrorist groups and individuals, the new threat landscape is particularly shaped by state actors, criminal networks and individuals or small groups driven by single issues or personal agendas.
For many years, the terrorist threat has been driven by non-state actors, but some state actors are also pursuing strategic goals using means associated with terrorism. One reason for this is that terrorism may be a convenient instrument for a state seeking to harm or weaken an adversary without crossing the threshold of armed conflict. Owing to the extensive capabilities of state actors, they can significantly impact the terrorist threat. At the same time, criminal proxies are increasingly used, especially by Iran, to carry out terrorist attacks, which makes the threat more unpredictable.
"Global security developments are among the factors shaping the threat landscape, and state actors have increasingly influenced the terrorist threat over the past year. We assess that this is particularly true of Iran, which poses a threat especially to Israeli and Jewish interests and certain Iranian dissidents in Europe, including Denmark. The Iranian threat emanates from the Iranian intelligence services, which use criminal networks and recruit operatives in Europe to plan and perform their attacks", says Finn Borch Andersen, Director General of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET).
Iran-Israel conflict has spillover effect on Danish threat landscape
The conflict between Iran and Israel has escalated in recent years. Since February 2026, Israel and the US have launched attacks on Iran, and Iran has retaliated with attacks on Israeli and US targets in the Middle East. This war has a spillover effect on the threat landscape in the West, including Denmark. CTA assesses that threats may derive from a variety of actors, including single-issue actors and actors with links to the Iranian regime or terrorist groups. Since 28 February 2026, there have been attacks on Israeli, Jewish and US interests in the West. The situation is volatile, and developments both in and outside the Middle East are difficult to predict. This means that the threat landscape in Denmark may also change at very short notice. CTA assesses that the conflict between Iran and Israel does not change the level of the terrorist threat to Denmark for the time being.
Other factors have become more prominent
The conflict in Gaza continues to affect the terrorist threat, as the situation may still prompt both known and unknown threat actors to engage in spontaneous or premeditated violent action, including terrorist attacks.
Furthermore, a number of other factors have become more prominent over the past year. Individuals and small groups with individually tailored motives and agendas, which do not fit into traditional ideological threat categories, are challenging the authorities' handling of the threat. At the same time, technological developments continue to facilitate and accelerate the spread of extremist messages and content, giving extremist communities and radicalizers significantly greater reach and a wider audience.
Traditional ideological threat actors still dominate the threat landscape
CTA assesses that the terrorist threat from militant Islamists remains at the level of significant, the terrorist threat from right-wing extremists remains at the level of general, the terrorist threat from left-wing extremists remains at the level of limited, the terrorist threat from anti-establishment extremists remains at the level of limited, and the terrorist threat to the Faroe Islands and Greenland remains at the level of minimal."Although state actors increasingly affect the terrorist threat, multiple attacks in the West over the past year have unfortunately demonstrated that traditional threat actors, such as militant Islamists and right-wing extremists, remain among the most significant challenges in the threat landscape," says Finn Borch Andersen.
PET regularly launches operations to uncover and prevent potential terrorist threats to targets in Denmark. Terrorist attacks may occur with no prior intelligence indications, even when the perpetrators have previously been known to have extremist sympathies.
Click the link to read the "Assessment of the Terrorist Threat to the Kingdom of Denmark".