Swiss president condemns deadly attack in Vienna

Simonetta Sommaruga, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has called for solidarity with Austria and France following attacks in both countries.

In a message posted to Twitter on Tuesday morning, Sommaruga said Switzerland condemned all forms of terrorism and violence. She said her thoughts were with the victims and their families as well as with all citizens of Austria and France.

“Our democratic and constitutional values of freedom and tolerance are our bulwark against barbarism,” she wrote.

The presidents of the Senate and the House of Representatives also expressed their solidarity and sympathy to the victims and their relatives in a joint tweet. They expressed “deep shock at the ideologically motivated act of violence”.

In Vienna gunmen reportedly opened fire at six locations near a synagogue on Monday evening. Five people died, including one of the attackers. Several people were seriously injured. Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer described the dead gunman as an Islamist terrorist. The search for suspects is underway.

France has seen two deadly knife attacks in Paris and Nice in recent weeks. Both had suspected Islamist motives.