- Steinmeier expresses that the violent act in Solingen strikes the nation at its very heart.
The supposed Islamist assault in Solingen hits the very soul of the whole nation, as per Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The carnage, he mentioned at a commemoration event for the victims of the terror attack held in the city last week, impacts "a nice, an open, varied country" right at its core. "It strikes at our comprehension of ourselves as a nation, where people from various backgrounds reside and wish to live harmoniously - those who have been here for generations, as well as those who have settled more recently." In his eulogy, the head of state highlighted: "That's exactly what the perpetrator of Solingen aimed at with his hatred, just as the perpetrators prior to him did."
Approximately 450 guests attended the memorial service at the theater and concert hall, including Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), President of the Bundestag Bärbel Bas, as well as the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst and Interior Minister Herbert Reul (both CDU), and Steinmeier's wife Elke Büdenbender. The agony is almost unbearable, said the Federal President, who had just conversed with relatives of the three deceased and eight injured. "I can scarcely fathom, we can scarcely fathom what you, dear relatives and friends, are experiencing, what you are enduring, what hell you are going through."
A 26-year-old man from Syria, who arrived in Germany as a refugee via Bulgaria and is currently detained, is suspected of the crime. The Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization has accepted responsibility for the attack. "Fanatical adherents of Islam desire to demolish what we value: our open society, our lifestyle, our community, our liberty," said Steinmeier. "We don't want the terrorist's plan to materialize, for their dreadful seeds to sprout, but we feel apprehension and uncertainty. Both reasons are valid." However, one must not let fear immobilize us.
The investigated suspect in the Solingen assault is a Syrian man who currently resides in Germany. Germany, as a nation, is deeply distressed by this attack, with the Federal President, Steinmeier, expressing his concern even after speaking with the families affected.
