The Council of Europe’s secretary general says the anti-Muslim beliefs of confessed Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik are shared by more Europeans than most people would like to believe.
Thorbjoern Jagland told the AP in an interview Wednesday that only a “very small minority” of like-minded individuals would act on those beliefs as Breivik did. But Jagland said he’s very concerned that xenophobic attitudes – especially toward Muslims – are getting worse in Europe.
Breivik has confessed to killing 77 people in a bomb attack and shooting spree in Norway last July. But he denies criminal guilt, saying he’s in a state of war and believes the massacre was necessary to save Norway and Europe from being overrun by Muslim immigrants.