More than half of Germans no longer believe their country is stable and safe following last week’s Islamist terror attack at Berlin’s Pride celebrations, according to a new opinion poll, highlighting growing public concern over the country’s failed migration policies.
The survey found that 51% of respondents rather or strongly disagreed with the statement that “Germany is a stable and safe country.” Only 37% agreed, while 12% said they were undecided.
The attack has had a direct impact on people’s sense of personal security.
Around 38% of respondents said their feeling of safety had either clearly or somewhat declined since the Islamist assault a week earlier. A majority of 54% said their perception of safety had remained unchanged, while seven per cent reported feeling safer. One per cent were undecided.
The findings come a week after 21-year-old German-Lebanese Islamist Abdul Ballout carried out a deadly attack, driving a vehicle into pedestrians before assaulting others with a machete. One woman was killed and 31 people were injured before Ballout was shot dead by police.
As we reported, one of Germany’s largest police unions has urged the government to introduce sweeping reforms to citizenship, deportation, and asylum laws.
In a letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, German Police Union (DPolG) chairman Heiko Teggatz argued that German citizenship should once again be more closely linked to successful integration and called for stricter deportation rules.
The proposals were welcomed by the anti-immigration opposition Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.
Decades of lax migration policies have led to terror attacks and other forms of physical violence, including knife attacks, committed by migrants.
However, instead of focusing on stopping more immigrants from entering the country, as well as deporting foreign criminals, the government, formed of the centre-right CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats, is still wary of introducing stricter policies.
For his part, Social Democratic parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch called on Chancellor Merz to attend a future Pride event as a gesture of solidarity.
