The shock from the terrorist attack in Solingen is enormous. The Federal President offers words of comfort, warning and criticism at a memorial ceremony.
Solingen- According to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (68, SPD), the state has not been able to fully keep its promise of protection and security in Solingen. The head of state said this at a memorial service for the victims of the suspected Islamist attack in the mountainous town.
Together with his wife Elke Büdenbender (62), Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (68, SPD) attended the memorial ceremony for the victims in Solingen. © Christoph Reichwein/dpa
The crime, mistakes and omissions that may have contributed to the fact that the act was not prevented must be addressed.
Germany is a country that offers protection and grants asylum to people fleeing political persecution and war. “We want to remain this country.” But in the end, this is only possible if the number of people who come here without being entitled to this protection is reduced. Those seeking protection must abide by the “laws and regulations of our country.”
Great efforts are needed to implement existing rules and those that are currently being created. This is a huge task that must be given top priority.
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Steinmeier is needed for a nationwide effort.
This is what the people of Germany expect, across party political boundaries and government levels. The burden of ensuring the success of immigration should not be placed on the committed people – such as employees in cities and municipalities, volunteers, police officers and all those who have long since reached their limits. “We must not overburden those with good intentions.”
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Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (66, SPD) and Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (54, SPD) also attended the memorial service. © Christoph Reichwein/dpa
The bloody act hits the country at its core, “a friendly, open, diverse country,” Steinmeier stressed. “It hits us in our self-image as a nation in which people want to live peacefully and together despite all their differences – people who have lived here for generations as well as those who came later.”
The head of state emphasised: “It was precisely this, this very core, that the perpetrator of the crime in Solingen was focusing on in his hatred, just like perpetrators before him.”
Among those taking part in the memorial service in the theater and concert hall were Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (66, SPD), Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (56, Green Party), as well as North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (49) and Interior Minister Herbert Reul (72, both CDU).
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Steinmeier's wife Elke Büdenbender (62) was also among the approximately 450 guests present.
The pain is almost unbearable, said the Federal President, who had just spoken to relatives of the three dead and eight injured. “I can hardly imagine, we can hardly imagine, what you, dear relatives and friends, are going through, what you have to suffer, what hell you are going through.”“
