Chancellor Angela Merkel promised Monday that Germany's
government would tackle security issues raised by the Christmas market truck attack
and renewed a pledge to make a "national effort" to ensure that
failed asylum seekers return home.
The Dec. 19 truck attack in Berlin demanded a swift response
that guarantees both security and civil liberties, Merkel said at a conference
of civil servants in Cologne.
Merkel, who leads a coalition government of conservative and
center-left parties that are traditional rivals, called on officials at federal
and local levels to pull together at the beginning of an election year.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere last week proposed a
security shake-up that would give the federal government more powers and
centralize Germany's domestic intelligence agency. The plan for more central
control drew sharp criticism from state governments.
"People don't want us to point fingers at each
other," Merkel said during her remarks Monday. "They want better success."
The interior minister also has proposed setting up centers
to facilitate the deportation of rejected asylum seekers.
Speeding up deportations and voluntary returns of people
whose asylum claims are rejected has gained new urgency following the Christmas
market attack. Investigators say the truck was driven by a rejected Tunisian
whom Germany hadn't managed to deport because Tunisia initially refused to
recognize him as its citizen.
"We will work on a national effort to return"
people to their homelands, Merkel said. However, she added that "this will
only succeed if we negotiate with respect with the countries to which they have
to be returned."
"Those who have no residency status must be returned to
their homeland, but that also demands of us that we concern ourselves with the
problems of these countries and find solutions that are in our mutual
interest," Merkel said.
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