MERKEL’S ATTEMPTS TO STRENGTHEN SECURITY: LOOK FROM GERMANY

IMAGE: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP

Written by Victor Vic exclusively for SouthFront

Together with the migration crisis the crime rate in European countries found an increase. Following investigations by security agencies, it was found that a large number of attackers were refugees entering Europe in this migration wave. After the investigations, it was found that a large number of attackers recently arrived in Germany and proclaimed themselves as Muslims. After thorough investigations, it was found that they were part of organized terrorist cells, operating outside, but also within European countries.

German authorities have responded to this creating new security policies. These include a series of procedures that track the activity of terrorist suspects and monitor phone calls and internet activities. This phenomenon has taken has had such an impact, that it had the German Federal Government change its course and invest more in security and police. Thus, it can be deduced from that a new strategy for preventing and combating terrorism is being put into practice.

Germany’s efforts have been quantified in the genesis of The Central Office For Information Technology In The Security Sector (ZITiS) on the 6th or April 2017, which was established with the decree of the Federal Minister of the Interior. This institution is responsible for processing information in cyberspace, with the aim of identifying terrorists and preventing attacks. This institution works with the law enforcement authorities, as a center of analysis and does not act on its own as the police or secret services do. The Federal Government plans the ZITiS as a research and development center with the main tasks of digital forensics, telecommunications monitoring, cryptanalysis, data analysis as well as technical issues of crime control, security and counterintelligence.

The tasks of this institution base on the current need for technical support and expertise of the security authorities. These also include various research assignments. The contents are agreed upon with legal authorities and recorded in a work program. In addition to applied research, ZITiS works with companies, institutes and universities. Another task of ZITiS is procedural development. Contents of this work are for example strategies, tools or technical solutions. Joint projects with other German security authorities are coordinated by the ZITiS. The task of the support and advisory service is to bundle know-how at a central location and to assist the security authorities with ZITiS expertise in technical matters.

Following the terrorist attacks put in place by Muslim migrants, the German Federal Government has found itself facing a monumental phenomenon which poses a threat to its security, integrity and citizens. This phenomenon triggered a new strategy to combat terrorism, causing the German Federal Government to invest more money and resources from the federal budget to combat this phenomenon. With the opening of the new institute for analysis, the German effort to prevent and combat terrorism materializes itself. The implementation of such measures at national level requires a great effort and determination from the government of a state. By seeing these events unfolding, the process of these events can also be questioned. It can be speculated that the whole process of building this new analysis institution is due to the fact that a collection of information has identified a real threat to Germany and Europe, and Germany’s efforts are stepping up to cope with a major confrontation with an unpredictable enemy, which is possesses a great destructive potential of the German society.

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