After the Magdeburg attack, Günter Krings, the right-wing spokesperson of the Union’s parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, is calling for more powers for German security agencies and a stronger integration of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
“We can no longer be satisfied with only receiving hints from foreign services about violent offenders and terrorists” Krings told the Handelsblatt (Tuesday edition). Therefore, German security agencies need more of their own powers to gain more of their own insights, especially in the digital area. They then need to be able to remove dangerous individuals from circulation based on such insights.
“Also, the authority and the duty for official cooperation and data exchange need to be improved” Krings demanded. This includes understanding the BAMF as a security agency in a clear and decisive manner. Given the enormous number of immigrants from the Islamic world, the authorities are under immense pressure.
“These improvements have been vainly requested by the CDU and CSU from the three governing parties in recent years” Krings said. “I hope very much that the horrific bloodshed in Magdeburg will lead to a change of heart.” And he hopes that people won’t fall for populists, the CDU politician said. “Because the AfD mistrusts our security agencies and, in reality, wants to withhold the necessary tools from them.