Germany’s coalition government unveiled a package of measures Saturday to speed up deportations and reduce knife crime, two weeks after a deadly stabbing in the western city of Solingen reignited debate over the country’s immigration policy.
“We have delivered,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told dpa in Berlin. “We are offering more protection against Islamist terror, stricter deportations of violent offenders, bans on knives and facial recognition of criminals,” she added.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said earlier that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition had agreed on the details of the package, which aims to strengthen security after the attack in Solingen, in which three people were killed by a 26-year-old Syrian suspect.
Buschmann said a bill has been submitted to the coalition parliamentary groups for consideration, adding that the bill could be debated in the full legislative session as early as next week.
The broad outline of the proposal was unveiled late last month and includes tougher rules on carrying knives in public, faster deportations, tougher new limits on asylum seekers’ benefits and greater police powers to tackle suspected Islamist threats.
“It is now up to parliament to get all this moving quickly,” said Buschmann.
But for the conservative opposition bloc CDU/CSU, the measures may not be far-reaching enough. They are demanding strict restrictions on the number of asylum seekers entering the country.
The three coalition parties and the conservative opposition will meet on Tuesday with the leaders of the country’s 16 states to determine a joint position.
Ahead of the talks, opposition leader Friedrich Merz said he would only continue talks if illegal migrants were immediately returned at Germany’s borders.
Steinmeier calls for unity
Earlier, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had called on all parties involved in the cross-party talks to show willingness to compromise.
Steinmeier, who has a largely ceremonial role, said in Berlin that he was closely following the consultations, expecting them to reach a common understanding.
“I am convinced that it is up to the parties of the democratic center to find solutions to issues that concern many people,” Steinmeier said, adding that a joint effort across party lines is needed.
Steinmeier also promised that Germany as a whole would strive for a solution to the problem of illegal migration.
“We must do everything we can to implement the rules that are already in place to restrict access and the rules that we are now putting in place,” he said.
Scholz had previously said that Germany’s coalition government would play its part in ensuring the success of the cross-party talks.
“It’s not our fault if it doesn’t work out. I hope it does, because that would be good for society and peace,” he told a rally in his constituency of Teltow in the eastern state of Brandenburg, near Berlin.
