The German federal government plans to compensate the victims of the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market with a special allocation of up to 25 million euros. According to the Spiegel, the Justice Ministry, led by Volker Wissing, has submitted a request for an extraordinary allocation to the Bundestag’s budget committee, stating that around 700 victims of the Magdeburg shooting have been registered so far. The police and the Federal Criminal Police Office, however, expect the number of victims to increase to up to 1,000, who will receive financial support.
The requested sum is based on a cost estimate that draws on previous experiences, particularly after the 2016 Berlin Breitscheidplatz terrorist attack. The document states that the compensation cannot be funded from a budget of six million euros for victims of terrorist and extremist acts, as the motive of the perpetrator is still under investigation.
Preliminary findings suggest that the suspected perpetrator acted out of “mainly personal motives.”Therefore, the federal Justice Ministry is requesting an extraordinary allocation, as it believes that “without these financial aid, severe state interests of a political and social nature would be impaired.”It is the state’s responsibility, the document states, to ensure that the government provides financial support to victims in the form of aid.