MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — Earlier this week, German media quoted Holger Munch, the chief of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), as saying that German police are experiencing difficulties in combating Islamic radicals in Germany.
According to Germany’s Federal Interior Ministry, over 680 German Islamists have gone to fight in Iraq and Syria, more than a third of which has already returned.
“The rapid rise in the numbers of German jihadists and the so-called returnees – who received paramilitary training and were further radicalized and hardened in battle – present a long-term challenge for our security authorities.”
She underlined that in light of the recent jihadist-motivated attacks in Brussels in May 2014, in Paris in January 2015, and in Copenhagen in February 2015, the ministry put security agencies on alert. It also boosted security authorities with new staff members, adding 750 new jobs to the federal security agencies.
Germany has so far succeeded in preventing several attacks. In late April, a married couple was arrested in Frankfurt after a raid at their home uncovered bomb-making chemicals and heavy weapons.
“These findings prove that we need to stay vigilant. But we also must be clear that there is no such thing as 100-percent security.”
At the same time, the spokeswoman noted that the threat level posed by Islamist terrorism is a challenge not only for German security agencies, but also for international cooperation.
According to the ministry, Germany cooperates with international partners, particularly with EU institutions, on early detection of those who travel to and from jihadist battlefields and prevention, whenever it is possible.
“We keep in touch with our international partners to prevent [jihadists’] travel, exchange information and coordinate activities. This is done as part of the EU but also bilaterally or multilaterally.”
