Setting aside differences, all 16 states of Germany have agreed on tough new measures to combat a wave of neo-Nazi violence.
At the same time, the governing coalition and the opposition have failed to agree on a change in the constitution designed to curtail the influx of foreigners into Germany.
But both the Kohl government and the Social Democratic Party reported progress in efforts to reach agreement on curbing a flood of refugees they blame for the upsurge in right-wing extremist violence.
Under the country’s liberal asylum laws, some 1.4 million refugees have crossed into Germany, a far higher level than that in neighboring European countries.
The new measures to crack down on violence were adopted Friday by the interior ministers of the 16 German states at a meeting in Bonn also attended by federal Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters and high-ranking officials of the domestic security service.
Among the new measures:
* Federal police and border police will be called in promptly when trouble arises that local or regional forces cannot handle. Toward that end, the government will recruit more police and train them in handling riots and violence against foreigners.
* The states will expedite the exchange of data on suspects in violent attacks against hostels for asylum-seekers.
* The federal government will expedite transmission to local police forces of information on suspects and extremist organizations.
* All major police stations will assign an officer to deal with complaints by asylum-seekers.
The government plans to ban a number of extreme right-wing organizations, Seiters said over the weekend. The interior minister told reporters the ban will clearly signal Germany’s refusal to accept continued neo-Nazi violence.
Seiters said the belief that the motivation for violence was economic rather than ideological had been proved wrong over the past few weeks when vandals attacked Jewish memorials and cemeteries.
In a similar vein, the chairman of the German Jewish community, Ignaz Bubis, said Sunday that violence must be the first problem tackled, not the influx of refugees.
At the same time, a coalition spokesman urged popular pressure on legislators to amend the constitution to curtail the intake of refugees.
Justice Minister Sabine Leuthheuser said she supported an “initiative by the people” to force the parliamentary factions in the Bundestag to reach a compromise, in the face of inability by the political leadership to adopt measures consistent with the wishes of a great majority of the Germans.
Meanwhile, the German Catholic Church has issued a statement rejecting the use of violence by the left or the right, and has denounced anti-Semitism and hatred of foreigners.
The statement, issued by the central committee of the Catholic Church in Germany, came as left-wing anarchists fought with right-wing skinheads in three German cities over the weekend. The violence left one person dead and at least six others injured.
The declaration was promptly welcomed by the Jewish community, and a spokesman urged that all German churches unite in a rejection of neo-Nazi violence.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
