After Solingen attack: Scholz announces talks with opposition

After the fatal knife attack in Solingen, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced talks with the states and the Union about the consequences. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser will “very quickly invite a representative of the chair and co-chair of the Conference of Prime Ministers, representatives of the largest opposition party and the federal ministries involved to confidential and targeted talks on this issue,” he said after a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Berlin.

The talks should focus on the return of rejected asylum seekers to their countries of origin, the fight against Islamist terrorism and gun laws. Proposals from countries and the Union should also be taken into account.

Scholz: Government must further limit illegal migration

Although the number of deportations increased by more than a quarter in the first half of the year compared to the previous year, this is still far from enough, the Chancellor stressed. “That is why the federal government will continue its efforts to further limit irregular migration. This also includes new legal measures that we in the federal government have been coordinating intensively since the weekend. These include, in particular, tightening gun laws, measures against violent Islamism and measures relating to residence law, especially to make repatriations even easier.”

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) offered Scholz cooperation on Tuesday in reorienting migration policy. He suggested appointing representatives from the government and the Union – but without the states. Merz wants to send parliamentary manager Thorsten Frei (CDU) to the meeting on behalf of the Union faction.