Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

“Germany has become safer,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer proclaimed on Tuesday morning in Berlin, as he presented the latest crime statistics for the first time since taking over the post in the new German government.

The latest figures show that some 5.76 million crimes were reported in 2017, 5 percent fewer than in the previous year and the lowest number since 1992. Taken as a percentage of the population, the crime rate is actually at its lowest in 30 years, Seehofer said.

However, Seehofer’s press briefing still had a somber tone to it. The interior minister acknowledged that the latest trends come at a time of public wariness, fueled largely by an increase in terror attacks in recent years, coupled with the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

The latest figures show that 44 percent of the German population feels less secure today than they did a few years ago.

“There is no reason to sound the all-clear and much remains to be done” Seehofer said, adding that rule of law must protect itself against all forms of extremism and terrorism.

However, Andre Schulz, the head of Germany’s Federation of German Police Officers, described the differentiation between German public sentiment and actual safety as “a paradox,” adding that the two had no bearing on one another.

The statistics separately list the number of offences perpetrated by non-German nationals. Here the number of incidents perpetrated by migrants also dropped significantly — by 23 percent from around 950,000 to just over 700,000. However, Seehofer pointed out that this sharp drop was mostly due to fewer instances of illegal migrants arriving and settling in Germany.

Politically motivated crimes fell for the first time in four years and made up just 0.7 percent of all reported criminal incidents.

Attacks on asylum and refugee shelters dropped significantly by 69 percent to just over 300 reported incidents. The number of attacks on immigrants returned to the level recorded before the 2015 migrant crisis and the influx of some 1 million refugees into Germany.

Despite the positive downward trend, Seehofer stressed that every reported incident was one too many.

Worryingly, however, there was a notable 2.5 percent increase in the number of anti-Semitic attacks, taking the total number in 2017 to 1,504 cases. Seehofer acknowledged a rise in so-called “imported anti-Semitic crimes,” referring to attacks on Jews perpetrated by Muslim migrants. However, the minister stressed that the vast majority of such incidents, some 94 percent, were perpetrated by right-wing extremists.

Seehofer directly referred to several recent instances as a “new form of anti-Semitism” that urgently needed to be addressed, including the controversy surrounding the Echo music prize and the attack on an Israeli boy who wore a yarmulke, or kippah, in Berlin.

Despite the increase of prejudiced crimes against Jews, Seehofer praised the work accomplished so far by Germany’s newly appointed anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein.

Germany’s interior minister says he wants to be able to start turning migrants back at the border quickly if Chancellor Angela Merkel’s talks with other European Union countries fail to produce results this month.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer averted an immediate collision with Merkel on Monday by giving her two weeks to talk with Germany’s EU partners. She has vehemently opposed his calls for Germany to unilaterally turn back people previously registered as asylum-seekers in other EU countries.

Merkel says she will report back on July 1. Seehofer said he’d be glad to see a European agreement, but “we want this national solution unless a European solution comes together.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will hold talks with other European countries on migration issues and report back to her party on July 1.

Merkel stressed Monday that she doesn’t want to see Germany unilaterally turn back migrants at its borders, as Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has been advocating.

Seehofer’s Christian Social Union party had raised the prospect of the minister taking such action in defiance of the chancellor, which has escalated the issue into a threat to her government. On Monday, the CSU agreed to give Merkel two weeks to seek agreements with European partners.

Merkel said she will hold talks at and around an upcoming EU summit and report back to her own conservative party July 1. She said it will then have to consider what happens next.

German news agency dpa is reporting that Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has made clear to his party that he wants to give Chancellor Angela Merkel until the end of June to find a European solution to migration issues.

The agency, which cited unnamed participants at an ongoing meeting in Munich of the leadership of Seehofer’s Christian Social Union party, said that if no agreements with other European Union partners are reached by then, the idea would be to start turning back some migrants at Germany’s border.

Seehofer’s demand to turn back migrants has set off a dispute with Merkel, who is against Germany taking unilateral action. She has insisted that any response must be coordinated with other EU nations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to discuss the issue of migration with Italy’s new premier on his first official trip to Berlin.

Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters that “various aspects of migration policy will be discussed” at the bilateral talks with Giuseppe Conte late Monday.

Seibert declined to elaborate ahead of the meeting, which will be preceded by statements from the leaders.

Merkel is under strong pressure from her conservative allies to take a harder line on migration.

While she has rejected unilateral action to turn back some migrants at the German border, Merkel has raised the possibility of forging agreements between two or more countries if an EU-wide asylum deal can’t be reached.

Seibert said such agreements could involve countries that are most strongly affected by migrant movements.

German news agency dpa reports that Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has told his party he wants to proceed step-by-step in his plan to turn back some migrants at the country’s borders — hinting at a compromise in a dispute with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Seehofer has been calling for Germany to turn back at its border migrants previously registered as asylum-seekers in other European countries. Merkel opposes unilateral action and wants time to discuss the issue with other European Union countries.

Citing unidentified participants, dpa reported that Seehofer told a leadership meeting of his Christian Social Union party on Monday in Munich that he wants to start by turning back people against whom authorities have issued a formal entry ban.

He says he wants to make preparations to turn back others, which would go into effect if no European agreements are reached.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies were expected Monday to decide how far to push in a dispute with the German leader over migration, a conflict that has escalated into a threat to her government.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is calling for Germany to turn back at its border migrants previously registered as asylum-seekers in other European countries. Merkel opposes unilateral action, arguing that it would weaken the 28-nation European Union.

Seehofer heads the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union, the sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union. The CSU is determined to show that it’s tough on migration as it faces a challenging October state election in Bavaria, and argues that that is the best way to cut support for the far-right Alternative for Germany.

A CSU leadership meeting Monday in Munich is likely to authorize Seehofer to go ahead with his plan — but it’s unclear at what point leaders want it to take effect. If Seehofer actually goes ahead and implements it unilaterally in defiance of Merkel, it could set off a chain of events that would bring down Germany’s coalition government.

Your feelings and insecurities are YOUR problem, not mine.

This guy is always gunning for me, wish I could block him.

Finally, something we can agree on.