Germany must grant federal police more powers to counter threats like terrorism and cyber attacks, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday, two weeks after a failed asylum seeker rammed a truck into a Christmas market and killed 12 people.
In his most detailed response yet to the December 19 attack, de Maiziere said Germany lacks laws that other countries have, and police and intelligence bodies are too fragmented.
"Our state must be better prepared for difficult times than it has been," de Maiziere said.
"The federal government needs to be able to steer all security authorities where central government and the states work together on national security."
Each of the 16 federal states has its own police force and intelligence agency, and the country's worst attack in more than 35 years has reignited debate about how best to prevent information from falling between the cracks.
After the Christmas market attack, it emerged that Tunisian suspect Anis Amri had spent nearly 18 months in Germany, using various names and moving between different parts of the country despite being identified as a security threat.
For several days he evaded an intensive search, crossing three international borders before being shot dead in Italy.
De Maiziere said the federal police agency should lead national manhunts, and a discussion about centralising intelligence agencies was needed.
He also said failed asylum seekers who are viewed as a danger should be held until they can be deported.
Amri, whose attack was claimed by Islamic State, was due to be sent home after his asylum application was rejected but Tunisia refused to take him because of missing papers.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term this year, is under growing pressure for allowing more than a million migrants into Germany over the past two years, which critics say has made the country more vulnerable to an attack.
Germany is also concerned that it could be open to a cyber attack in the months leading to the election. The website of the federal police was hacked one day after the Christmas market attack.
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