German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she wants to work more closely with France in the fight against Islamic terrorism, following the deadly knife attack by a Syrian refugee with suspected links to the Islamic State in the western German city of Solingen last week.
“These are difficult times for us in Germany at the moment after the terrible terrorist attack in Solingen. That is why I also wanted to exchange views with my French colleague on how we can combat the terrible acts of violent Islamists,” Faeser said during a meeting with French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin in Paris on Wednesday.
“I thought it was important that we exchanged ideas about how we can combat Islamism more effectively through cooperation, but also how we can further reduce illegal migration,” said Faeser.
She said that it is particularly about reducing so-called secondary migration, the movement of refugees between EU member states.
The European Commission must put pressure on Member States that do not take back refugees who have submitted their first asylum application there.
Berlin says the suspect who murdered three people in Solingen — a 26-year-old Syrian man who is in pre-trial detention — was allegedly deported to Bulgaria last year after his asylum application was rejected in Germany. Germany believes Bulgaria was the EU country responsible for processing his application.
