President of the Thuringian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer, laments a lack of cooperation among the security authorities in the face of the Magdeburg attack.
“After the publicly available information, the suspected perpetrator was likely known to both federal and state authorities for a long time, even if not with the clear intention of committing such an attack” he told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”. It remains to be clarified who, when, and what was known and, if necessary, not passed on or handled appropriately. “Speculating whether the attack could have been prevented is already ruled out because we always know more later on.”
Kramer added, “In general, one can say that the exchange of information between authorities – regardless of whether at the federal or state level and between each other – is in need of improvement at many points. Misunderstood data protection, lack of legal foundations for the exchange of information, restrictive decisions by the Federal Constitutional Court, or simply the human phenomenon of growing responsibility diffusion describe a part of the problem.”
As long as not all work together, we will always experience that important clues, whether from within or outside the country, will be misinterpreted or not evaluated because they did not even reach the competent authorities in the first place. “Even the best regulations and laws are of no use if we do not achieve a change of consciousness.”
The Constitution Protection President cautioned, “We must self-critically analyze and quickly rectify any possible mistakes and errors in the authorities, to the extent that they are already known, because Christmas is just around the corner, with more Christmas markets and services throughout the land. And New Year’s is also approaching with many public events: ‘Due to the still high abstract threat level – Islamist terror groups, for example, have been calling for attacks just now – the security authorities still have their hands full. The danger is not over yet.’