Extremist terrorism has arrived in Germany: State PM

ST. QUIRIN (GERMANY): Germany must face the fact that extremist terrorism has arrived and respond with tougher security and tighter immigration policies, Bavaria’s state premier said on Tuesday.

“Each attack, each act of terrorism, is one too many. Islamist (extremist) terrorism has arrived in Germany,” Horst Seehofer, a long-standing critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door refugee policy, told a news conference.

“We need more security in Germany. People are riled up, full of fear, and that is completely understandable. They need reliable answers from politicians and not endless debates and justifications,” Seehofer said after a meeting of party leaders.

A spate of attacks in Germany since July 18 have left 15 people dead - including four attackers - and dozens injured.

Two of the assailants had links to extremist militant groups, German officials say.

Two of the five attackers recently entered Germany from Syria, another was from either Pakistan or Afghanistan, stoking concerns about unprecedented immigration after 1 million migrants arrived last year, many fleeing conflict in the region.

Immigration and security are sure to be big topics in next year’s federal elections, where the clash between Seehofer’s Christian Social Union (CSU) and Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) may undermine conservatives’ hopes of staying in power.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told the news conference Germany should rethink rules that limit deportations of refugees for medical reasons, and significantly lower hurdles to deporting refugees who break the law.