Northern Macedonia's MPB is investigating a 19-year-old suspected of organising an attack on Taylor Swift concerts

The Northern Macedonia Ministry of Internal Affairs told Voice of America on Thursday that Austrian authorities have demanded from this minister “the control of a person with origin from Northern Macedonia, who is suspected of involvement in planning a terrorist attack on Vienna”.

Austrian authorities arrested a 19-year-old Austrian citizen of North Macedonia on Wednesday, suspected of involvement in a failed plot to attack the concerts of singer Taylor Swift, already cancelled, which were scheduled to be held in Vienna

Skopje according to the response given to the Voice of America “is acting on the basis of the submitted request” by Austrian authorities, but did not give more details about which part of the country the parents of the suspect originate from.

Portal “360sstepin” in northern Macedonia wrote that the suspect is called Beran Aliji, born in Austria but originally from Gostivar. The portal referred to as it said, “to independent sources, which have access to reliable documents”

Meanwhile, Austrian authorities said they found materials of the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda at the home of the second suspect for involvement in the plot.

There are no other suspects at large after the two suspects were arrested, Interior Minister Gerhard Carrer said in Vienna on Thursday.

The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can say that a tragedy” was prevented, he said.

Security authorities said the second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian citizen of Turkish and Croatian origin, was arrested by special police forces near the stadium, where it was scheduled to hold concerts this week. On Wednesday is a 19-year-old Austrian. The names of the suspects were not published in accordance with Austrian privacy rules.

Austrian security officials claimed that the two young men wanted to stage an attack outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using knives or handicrafts.

They told reporters at a press conference in Vienna that the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian native from Northern Macedonia, fully confessed his plans for the attack. They said that he was the “fairly radicalised in the spirit of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill the unbelievers”.

The second suspect was employed a few days earlier in a company offering services at concert venues. Investigators said they found extensive materials regarding the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda in his home.

The American ABC network quoted sources within the rule forces and intelligence as saying Austrian authorities had received information about the threat of attack during concerts by American intelligence services.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Carrer said foreign intelligence agencies had helped with investigations, as Austrian law does not allow monitoring message applications.

The concert annulment saddened fans of singer Taylor Swift worldwide, many of whom had spent thousands of euros on travel and accommodation in Austria's expensive capital to attend concerts.

According to Franz Ruff, the director of public security at Austria's Interior Ministry, chemicals and technical equipment were found at the home of the 19-year-old suspect.

In an interview Thursday with public broadcaster Oe1 programme ORF, Mr. Ruff said investigators are evaluating evidence seized from the suspect's house. Just a few weeks earlier, the 19-year-old had posted on an online account an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group, he added.

Austria's deputy Chancellor Werner Kogler wrote on the social X platform that “for many people, a dream has been destroyed today. On three evenings in Vienna, tens of thousands of Swift singer worshipers should have celebrated together”.

I'm so sorry to deny this to you. Swift fans stand together, hate and terror cannot destroy it”, Mr. Kogler wrote late Wednesday.

The 19-year-old's neighbors arrested said Thursday that his family lived very close.

“We didn't see them in their backyard or their children outside”, a neighbor said, standing at her doorstep.

“They were always friendly and welcomed, but the idea of going to them to drink coffee together or come to see us did not happen”, she said.

According to the neighbour, the suspect's family moved to Ternitz, an hour's drive south of the Austrian capital and near the Hungarian border, about five years ago.

They moved here from Vienna. They are Vietnamese with backgrounds from Macedonia (North)”, she added. / VOA