After Solingen attack: Berlin clamps down on knives, sets up 2 task forces
In response to the recent terrorist attack in Solingen, the German government is broadening the ban on knives in public places, increasing police powers and planning to speed up the deportation of criminal asylum seekers and Dublin cases.
The EU’s largest country has been rocked by a brutal knife attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) that left three dead and several injured. In response, the progressive coalition government has announced tougher measures and increased police powers.
“Anyone in Germany who attacks or threatens people with a knife must be deported, this must also apply to young people,” said Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP, Renew) in Berlin on Thursday (29 August).
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD, S&D) agreed, stressing that “knives have no place at festivals” and adding that the government wanted to “further restrict the use of knives in public spaces”.
New measures include banning switchblades, making it easier to ban individuals from carrying weapons, and empowering the federal states to create gun-free zones, said Faeser, explaining the compromise reached by the government.
In addition, police will be allowed to conduct “random searches even without prior suspicion,” she told reporters.
Berlin will also set up two task forces: one to investigate why the Solingen attacker, who had previously applied for asylum in Bulgaria, was not successfully returned to the country under Dublin rules after police were unable to reach him at his residence.
Refugees that other EU countries are prepared to take back will have their support cut, the interior minister said – a rule that will become European law from 2027 following the agreement of the Asylum and Migration Pact.
The second group will be tasked with “Islamism prevention” to combat radicalisation online.
This will be complemented by additional policing of digital spaces, including biometric matching of public data and the use of artificial intelligence, Faeser said.
Meanwhile, calls by conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU, EPP) for an immediate halt to granting asylum to Syrian and Afghan refugees following the attack were rejected.
Instead, the German government wants to cut support for any applicant who returns home without a valid reason, such as a relative’s funeral.
Buschmann also wants to make it easier to deny asylum to anyone who commits a hate crime motivated by “Islam, jihad or extremism”.
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