German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere to propose tougher security measures

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (AFP Photo)

Germany's Interior Ministry is to propose a raft of new security measures in response to recent attacks in the country.

German media reported on Wednesday that the tougher stance will include waiving doctor-patient confidentiality in dangerous cases and expediting the deportation of rejected refugees.

The new measures also include speeding up deportations of foreign potential attackers and criminals and the introduction of a new reason for deportation: "danger to public safety," the Bild daily reported citing security sources.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere is to announce the new measures on Thursday which are planned to be passed into law by the upcoming elections due in autumn 2017.

The measures devised by the Interior Ministry are based on a nine-point plan to improve security announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel in the wake of the recent attacks, local media said.

Merkel’s nine-point security plan included better monitoring of potential suspects and more intelligence-sharing with the US and its European partners.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (L) addresses delegates during the opening session of the two-day Counter-Terrorism Conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on May 31, 2016. (AFP Photo)

It also included a commitment to speed up deportations of rejected asylum seekers. Furthermore, it called for a commitment to push for Europe-wide gun controls.

Fifteen people were killed and dozens wounded in five separate attacks between July 18 and July 26 in Germany. Two were claimed by Daesh militant group which is mainly operating in Iraq and Syria.

The three other attacks were purportedly carried out by asylum seekers.

Germany is facing a significant threat of terrorist attacks, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere says.

“We are living in difficult times. The terror threat is high and both the federal and state police are under strain,” the minister told reporters in Bremen on Wednesday while visiting a police headquarters.

He added that "the German government and states together are cracking down, carrying out searches early and energetically, to defend the population against threats."  

 German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (R) is seen during his visit at a federal police headquarters in Bremen, Germany, August 10, 2016. ©Reuters 

Germany is on high alert since July, when a spate of attacks killed 15 people, including four attackers, and left dozens injured.

On July 24, a 27-year-old Syrian refugee killed himself and injured 15 people outside a café in the city of Ansbach in Bavaria in southern Germany.

The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the Syrian man was a recruit.

On July 18, a teenage refugee, who was registered as an Afghan asylum seeker but was believed to be a Pakistani national, injured four people using an ax and a knife on a train in Bavaria. The Daesh Takfiri group claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the same month, a teenager opened fire at people shopping at a mall in the city of Munich in the south, killing nine and injuring more than 35 others. Officials ruled out that the case was a terrorism issue.

Meanwhile, the interior minister is expected to propose a raft of new security measures, including speedier deportations and waiving doctor-patient confidentiality in some cases, according to German media.

The measures are reportedly based on a nine-point plan announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel to improve security following the attacks.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said the minister would present his plans on Thursday.