Berlin attack: ‘Angela Merkel’s nightmare before Christmas’

The Berlin terrorist attack is a damning indictment of Angela Merkel and her plans for reelection, experts told RT while discussing the ramifications of the tragic event for German politics.

Chancellor Merkel is under fierce criticism over her immigration policies after 12 people were killed and 48 injured during the attack on the Berlin Christmas market.

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Merkel lambasted online over immigration policies in wake of Berlin terrorist attack

“This is a sad day for Berlin,” said Frank-C. Hansel, a member of the Berlin parliament for AfD.

“Lessons learned have to be seen. We’ve always said that illegal mass immigration will be a problem and it is dangerous because we do not know who comes into the country. This was evident, and the security forces warned the government that this is not a good thing to do. We have to see what the government of Angela Merkel learned of this,” he told RT.

“The police forces acted very well. We still trust in Germany the security forces. But the problem is how we can trust a government that breaks the law… We have to regain the control of our borders. That is the most important thing to do,” Hansel added.

Asked about why it took hours for the German authorities to admit that Berlin Christmas market incident was a terror attack, Gilbert Doctorow, the European Coordinator of The American Committee for East West Accord Ltd., said that “the delay is very telling because it highlights the fact which makes security so difficult to maintain in Germany.”

“That is the state censorship and the very particular position of Angela Merkel who uses the whole state apparatus to serve her own personal political power and to stay in power. By that I mean the police are muzzled. The police are not allowed to give valuable details to the public on various either terrorist attacks or suspicious activities that have been going on around Germany,” he told RT. “It is very difficult for police to function when they are muzzled. It is very difficult for police to be effective when there is no outreach to the communities and the communities are not aware of the level of threat that they face,” Doctorow added.

According to UKIP MEP Mike Hookem, the Berlin Christmas market attack and the German chancellor’s response “is a damning indictment on Angela Merkel.”

“When she opened the floodgates for mass migration into Germany, these people that are coming into Europe and Germany are not being checked. We don’t know if they are ISIS or if they are genuine refugees,” he told RT.

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Merkel announced last month that she was ready to run for a fourth term as German chancellor in the national election next September.

In Hookem’s view, “the German public is going to be very happy with Merkel when she comes up for reelection.”

“The problem is the [officials'] reaction. I am really fed up with 'Je suis Charlie', 'Pray for Paris', 'Pray for Nice', 'Pray for Berlin.' It is an absolutely fake reaction of the politicians and especially from Merkel because she is responsible for her policies,” Georg Mayer, Austrian MEP, representing the Freedom Party of Austria, told RT.

“The German Chancellor let people in, the so-called refugees. They didn’t even ask for their names; they didn’t even ask for their birth date, and that is what you see now. We have been already warning that there will be terrorists coming to Germany and then to Europe and that is what we face now”, Mayer continued.

“We know the argument we will hear from Merkel and all the other responsible for their policies. Today there will be consternation and sorrow. The day after tomorrow there will be a confession to change something. Then there will be warning of overreaction, warnings of right-wing parties using that attack for their politics. And then they will go on to everyday agenda, and nothing will change until we see next attack…I think Merkel has to resign because that is the outcome of her politics,” he added.

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Political and social commentator Mohammed Ansar, argues that Merkel is trying “to hold back a wall, a tidal wave of hate and far-right prejudice which has been growing in Germany with the likes of AfD and Pegida.”

“I think partly the discussions we are having today, trying to find solutions and recognize what the problems are, are really quite profound. We’ve got people like AfD and Pegida who are saying that this is an attack on the West and Christian values, traditions. Although in part some of that might be true, I think the way in which they are bothering all Muslims, all immigrants, all refugees and asylum seekers and yet somehow are trying to have a nuanced debate about this – I think it’s laughable,” he said.

The kind of rhetoric that followed the Berlin attack “has shown that the AfD are looking to exploit this, to monopolize the situation” and they have been “stoking fear, hate and anger” while Merkel is trying to give a reasonable and sensible voice, Ansar said.

“She has a policy at the moment where they are trying to get about 100,000 failed asylum seekers out of Germany. She is doing both sides correctly, but what we don’t need at this time is more hate and hysteria,” he added.