Memorial event: Wüst calls for debates “without blinkers” after Solingen attack

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst has described the suspected Islamist massacre in Solingen as “barbaric and inhuman terror” and at the same time as a “turning point”. We owe it to the victims of the attack to work seriously to get to the root of the problem, said the CDU politician at a memorial service in the theater and concert hall of the Bergisches city. Intensive debates are needed on asylum, foreigners and immigration policy.” These must be conducted “without blinkers, without foaming at the mouth, without party squabbling.”

On August 23, three visitors to the town festival in Solingen were killed with a knife and eight other people were injured. A 26-year-old man from Syria is suspected of the crime and is in custody. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office is investigating him on charges including murder and suspicion of membership in the terrorist group Islamic State (IS).

At the memorial event, the head of government stressed that freedom had been attacked in Solingen. The attack had struck the country to the core and would leave scars in society. “But the attacker missed his goal of driving a wedge into our society.” We must stand up to terror and remain cosmopolitan. “Our country has grown closer together in recent days.”

Also attending the memorial service were Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, Solingen’s Mayor Tim Kurzbach (all SPD), as well as Bundestag President Bärbel Bas, NRW Deputy Prime Minister Mona Neubaur, Refugee Minister Josefine Paul (both Greens) and Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU).