Government and conservative opposition bloc parties meet today in Berlin to discuss migration and security policies following the August 23 attack in Solingen that killed three people and injured eight others at the hands of a suspected Islamic extremist from Syria, now detained on charges of murder and suspected membership of the Islamic State terrorist group. The meeting will be attended by representatives of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, the conservative CDU/CSU opposition bloc, and the German Laender.
The Interior Ministry, which is hosting the meeting, announced that the talks will focus on a package of security measures announced last week by the Scholz government in response to the attack. The chancellor will not attend the meeting. Instead, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will chair the talks on behalf of the federal government, with Justice Minister Marco Buschmann and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock attending. Thorsten Frei and Andrea Lindholz, two leading lawmakers from the centre-right CDU/CSU opposition bloc, as well as senior officials representing the 16 German states will also be present.
Last week, the Scholz government proposed stricter rules on carrying knives in public, new limits on benefits for asylum seekers and greater powers for police to tackle suspected Islamist threats.
