--- title: U.S Warns Americans of Possible Terrorist Attack in Europe description: Following several terrorist attacks on the continent, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Europe on Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/ author: Tara John article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-31T16:40:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:56:36.560Z article:section: World og:title: U.S Warns of Possible Terrorist Attack in Europe og:description: The alert asks U.S. citizens to "exercise vigilance" in public og:url: https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d49e0acf1068d49/698895aba988ca09416b80e2/tourist-terrorist-warning-europe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: FRANCE-PARIS-ENVIRONMENT-CHAMPS-ELYSEES og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S Warns of Possible Terrorist Attack in Europe twitter:description: The alert asks U.S. citizens to "exercise vigilance" in public twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d49e0acf1068d49/698895aba988ca09416b80e2/tourist-terrorist-warning-europe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Warns of Possible Terrorist Attack in Europe ## Video: A Timeline of the Paris Attacks [Watch (HLS stream): A Timeline of the Paris Attacks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4MTtdsM7.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2015-11-14. A Timeline of Paris Attacks_ by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John May 31, 2016 4:40 PM CUT  People walk along the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris on May 8, 2016. People walk along the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris on May 8, 2016.Thomas Samson—AFP/Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John May 31, 2016 4:40 PM CUT Following [several terrorist attacks](http://time.com/4336919/europol-terrorist-paris-brussels-rob-wainwright/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") on the continent, the [U.S. State Department](https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/europe-travel-alert.html "undefined") issued a travel alert for Europe on Tuesday warning Americans of the possibility of a terrorist attack in the summer months. The [grim warning](http://www.state.gov/travel/ "undefined") says targets could include restaurants, commercial centers, tourist sites, transportation and major events. It also singled out big events happening in Europe this summer: the European Soccer Championship, the Tour de France and Catholic Church’s World Youth Day in Poland. “We are alerting U.S. citizens to the risk of potential terrorist attacks throughout Europe” the State Department wrote in the travel alert that expires on Aug. 31\. “The large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for [terrorists planning attacks](http://time.com/4268579/brussels-attacks-islamist-terrorism-isis/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") in public locations, especially at large events” The alert asks U.S. citizens to “exercise vigilance” in public, avoid crowded locales, “be aware of immediate surroundings” and to be prepared for additional security screenings. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/"},"headline":"U.S. Warns of Possible Terrorist Attack in Europe","datePublished":"2016-05-31T16:40:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:56:36.560Z","description":"The alert asks U.S. citizens to \"exercise vigilance\" in public","url":"https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/","keywords":["Terrorism","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d49e0acf1068d49/698895aba988ca09416b80e2/tourist-terrorist-warning-europe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d49e0acf1068d49/698895aba988ca09416b80e2/tourist-terrorist-warning-europe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-PARIS-ENVIRONMENT-CHAMPS-ELYSEES","caption":"People walk along the Champs Elysees Avenue on May 8, 2016, as the French capital's most famous avenue goes car-free for a day, in the first instalment of a monthly effort to tackle pollution in Paris. / AFP / THOMAS SAMSON (Photo credit should read THOM","creditText":"Thomas Samson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/terrorism/","name":"Terrorism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/","name":"U.S. Warns of Possible Terrorist Attack in Europe"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Timeline of the Paris Attacks","description":"A Timeline of Paris Attacks","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/4MTtdsM7/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-14T20:13:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4MTtdsM7.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/","duration":"PT2M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4352510/europe-terrorist-attack-state-department-warning/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```