[Make sure to read Robert Spencer’s contributions in Jamie Glazov’s new book: Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America.]

The new Europe is vibrantly diverse, and that means it must be infinitely superior to the old Europe. Every paradise has its downside, however, and as Europe assumes its new status in the world as the globalists’ premier showcase of multiculturalism, there are some definite sour notes. One came on Saturday in Germany, as a jihad plot was foiled targeting the renowned Cologne Cathedral, on which construction began in the year 1248.

The German-language publication Bild reported Saturday that there were “several arrests” as “Islamists planned an attack on Cologne Cathedral.” A police spokesman in Cologne explained: “Due to a warning of a threat to Cologne Cathedral, the Cologne police will take special protective measures beginning this evening.”

Michael Esser, Cologne’s police, suggested that the plot was set not for Christmas, but for New Year’s Eve. However, he said: “Even if the reference refers to New Year’s Eve, we will take everything into account this evening to ensure the safety of cathedral visitors on Christmas Eve. In coordination with the security officer of the cathedral chapter, the cathedral will be searched with sniffer dogs after the evening mass and then locked. Tomorrow all visitors will be screened before entering the church.”

Bild added that “the police and the Cologne Cathedral Chapter recommend avoiding bags and arriving early to the masses.” It’s the price of multiculturalism, folks. Come for the schwarma, stay for the jihad.

Cologne wasn’t even the only target. The Bild report also noted that “security authorities in Austria, Germany and Spain have received indications that an Islamist terrorist cell may want to carry out several attacks in Europe on New Year’s Eve or Christmas.” Besides Cologne, the targets could include Christmas observances in Vienna and Madrid. There were arrests Saturday in Vienna as well as in Germany, but the investigation was ongoing, and authorities were closemouthed.

Police in Vienna announced: “Due to a current threat assessment by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the continued increased terror alert level, there is generally an increased risk in Austria during the Christmas holidays.” This is not just a general precaution, but a response to a specific threat: “Since terrorist actors across Europe are calling for attacks on Christian events – especially around December 24th – the security authorities have increased the corresponding protective measures in public spaces in Vienna and the federal states. Dangerous places or objects in particular are increasingly monitored and guarded.”

Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral is “said to be particularly at risk,” to the extent that the Vienna police are guarding the venerable structure with submachine guns and implementing controls on who can get into the building. They explained: “These precautionary measures serve to maintain the general safety of the people in Austria. There will be increased police precautions over the Christmas holidays. Civilian and uniformed emergency services with special equipment and long weapons are deployed. Police attention is focused primarily on churches and religious events, especially church services and Christmas markets. The measures are taken depending on necessity and can also include access controls if necessary. Visitors to events and church services are asked to bring a photo ID and to allow more time than usual.”

This is the reality of the new Europe. “Since 2010,” according to Bild, “18 Islamist terrorist attacks have been prevented in Germany.” There will be many more. In 2015, then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the floodgates to mass migration of Muslims, with scant, if any, attention paid to whether or not the new entrants might be Islamic jihadis. The German political and media establishment, like those of the European Union in general, were wholeheartedly in favor of this initiative, and worked assiduously to brand even the mildest opposition to it as “racist,” “Islamophobic,” and even “neo-Nazi,” a particularly potent smear in Germany.

And so now the European intelligentsia has the multicultural Europe it wanted. What is happening in Germany and all over Europe today is happening in Old Joe Biden’s America as well, with our nonexistent Southern border and neglected and ignored Northern border. Just The News reported in October that “in fiscal 2023, 659 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) were apprehended attempting to illegally enter the U.S. – with the majority being apprehended at the northern border.”

Those are just the ones who were apprehended. There is an unknowable number of others who got through. Where are they now? Oh, we’ll almost certainly hear from them eventually — maybe at one of the nation’s landmark cathedrals.