Solingen regional interior minister calls for stricter border checks

Following the fatal knife attack in Germany's Solingen, the interior minister for the state of North Rhine Westphalia, where the city is located, has advocated for stricter checks at Germany's borders and for the rejection of refugees.

"I believe there is no other way," Herbert Reul said on public radio Deutschlandfunk. The conservative politician said the most important step would be to limit immigration. He asserted that deportations to Afghanistan and Syria - where the main suspect is from - are correct.

On Friday evening, three people were killed with a knife at a city festival in Solingen. Eight people were injured, four of them seriously. The alleged perpetrator is a 26-year-old Syrian.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office is investigating him for murder and on suspicion of membership in the terrorist militia Islamic State.

Regarding refugee policy, Reul said there has been a political loss of trust among the population. He said this also lies in the fact that problems are ignored for too long.

In connection with possible errors in the deportation process of the Solingen suspect, the regional interior minister does not see himself as politically responsible.

He referred to the North Rhine Westphalian Ministry for Children, Youth, Family, Equality, Refuge and Integration and the responsible Minister Josefine Paul. "There are open questions that my colleague Paul is now also addressing."

Reul called for a cross-party initiative and a round table. "Former president Gauck said months ago: We cannot take everyone in and we are overstretching ourselves and our society." Reul said that limiting immigration is now indisputable.