Start of Magdeburg Christmas market: Merz demands radical measures!

Start of Magdeburg Christmas market: Merz demands radical measures!

The attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg on December 20 shaked Germany. The 50-year-old Talib A. searched into the crowd with a car, killed five people and injured over 200, some of them seriously. This terrible act raises questions and revives the political discussion about laws regarding migrants. Friedrich Merz, the Union's candidate for Chancellor, called for a harder approach to people with a migration background in his "Merzmail" email newsletter who do not want to integrate into society. "We are simply not consistent enough when dealing with the enemies of our democracy," he said.

urgent reform requirement

Merz emphasized that instructions should be possible without previous crimes. He described the perpetrator as an aggressive opponent of Islam and underlined the need to "do not want such (potential) offenders in our country". This clear demand is related to its perception of increasing willingness to violence and significantly higher foreign crime in Germany, which was 34.4 percent of the suspects in 2023. Despite increasing migrant numbers, Merz expects a stronger legal handling to recognize and prevent potential dangers early on, such as reported.

in parallel to Merz ’demands also commented on Chancellor Olaf Scholz and called for a thorough examination of the events around the perpetrator. He pointed out that there have been references to the man over the years and that it is now important to clarify possible failures of the authorities. Merz’s view of the risks that political Islamists represent, interlinked with the required political consequences afterwards of the tragedy, which will further influence the political agenda in Germany, as rtl noted.