German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on German society to unite in the aftermath of the fatal car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the central city of Magdeburg.
“Hatred and violence must not have the last word. Let us not be driven apart. Let us stand together,” Steinmeier said in his Christmas address, published ahead of Christmas Day.
The president said that many people will have a heavy heart this Christmas, or feel unsettled, insecure or perhaps afraid. “All these feelings are understandable. But they must not control us, and they must not paralyse us.”
Five people were killed, including a nine-year-old child, and some 235 injured when a man drove a car into the crowd at a Christmas market on Friday evening.
The suspect, a Saudi national identified only as Taleb A according to German privacy laws, has been living in Germany since 2006 and was granted political refugee status in 2016.
He is now in police custody awaiting a trial.
Steinmeier also offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims: “You are not alone in your pain. People all over our country feel and grieve with you.”
Steinmeier re-recorded his Christmas address, which is to be broadcast on Christmas Day, after the attack.
