To meet the challenge of terrorism European countries should change their foreign policy in the first place, Willy Wimmer, former Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and ex-State Secretary in the German Defense Ministry, told Sputnik Deutschland.
Commenting on the Berlin Christmas Market attack Wimmer pointed out that besides adopting necessary anti-terrorism measures, the EU member-states need to reconsider their foreign strategy.
"On the one hand, we are talking about necessary measures to prevent terrorist attacks. On the other hand Europe must also change its policies. It is said that we should learn to 'handle' terrorism. In my opinion, this is an eye-wash and cynicism. The basic political origins of the situation we have found ourselves in are not being addressed," Wimmer emphasized.
The German politician warned of dire security situation in Europe. Still, it's no wonder the situation is getting worse, he noted.
"If you allow hundreds of thousands you know nothing about to enter the country, you shouldn't be surprised. If you read the police reports on terror attacks, you will see that there are networks of organizations for conducting terror actions in Europe," Wimmer underscored.
To make matters worse the government has yet to tackle the security problem, he added.
Wimmer underscored that immigrants often ignore German laws without fear of repercussions. "This is at the expense of our own security," the German politician remarked.
However, according to Wimmer, neither total censorship, nor mass surveillance will help solve the security problem.
And that bring us back to Big Brother and his omnipotent surveillance machine, the German politician noted in veiled reference to the US.
"What comes from outside as a threat is used to bring us under control," he noted.
Following the Berlin market attack German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed in her speech that it would be very "repugnant" to find out that the attack was conducted by someone who sought shelter in Germany.
Still, Merkel failed to propose any decisive measures to deal with the situation, Wimmer highlighted.
"The Federal Chancellor is incapable of actively dealing with the security problem that she created last year herself," he stressed.
At the same time "this burden shouldn't be placed on the [German] population," the politician added.
"We should get back to normality. This means: protecting our borders, not participating in wars and thus being an open and free society. That constitutes Germany's charm. And it is now being jeopardized by [Joachim] Gauck and Merkel," Wimmer underscored.
Speaking to Sputnik Deutschland Georg Pazderski, retired Colonel and chairman of the Berlin branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) bemoaned the fact that the country is "not as well prepared [to counter terrorism] as we could and should have been."
"At the moment we do not know, who is in our country, what these people's background is and what their intentions are. It is necessary to include all migrants and refugees into police databases. We must know, who is in our country," Pazderski stressed.
His party colleague, AfD North-Rhine Westphalia State Chairman Marcus Pretzell, was more straightforward: "When will the German state of law strike back? When will this cursed hypocrisy finally stop? These are Merkel's dead!" he tweeted Tuesday.
Wann schlägt der deutsche Rechtsstaat zurück? Wann hört diese verfluchte Heuchelei endlich auf? Es sind Merkels Tote!#Nizza#Berlin
— Marcus Pretzell (@MarcusPretzell) 19 декабря 2016 г.
