Mr Söder, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party which has been highly critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy, said Germany must secure its own borders if the EU fails to toughen up its external frontiers, echoing warnings from Horst Seehofer, the Bavarian state premier.
“It can’t be that we don’t know who is coming to Germany and what these people are doing here,” he said.
“Not every refugee is an IS terrorist. But to believe that not a single civil war fighter is among the refugees is naïve. France shows that in questions of security, we cannot make any more compromises.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives to address the press at the Chancellery in Berlin, a day after the deadly attacks in Paris Photo: Getty Images
One German national was among those killed in the Paris attacks, Germany’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday.
German authorities are still looking into a possible link between the Paris attacks and the arrest of a man from Montenegro with a car-load of machine guns, revolvers and explosives on the Bavarian border on Thursday.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said on Saturday night that navigation systems were found showing “an address in Paris”, but he added: “There is a link to France, but it is unclear if there is a link to the attacks.”
Members of German government’s crisis group attend meeting after Friday’s terror attacks in France at the foreign ministry in Berlin, Germany Photo: PA
German officers had arrested the 51-year-old man during a routine check on a motorway, but a Montenegrin police spokeswoman said the suspect “is not a Muslim and there is no information that could link him with terrorist attacks in Paris”.
Earlier on Saturday Mr Seehofer said there was “reason to believe” that the suspect was linked to the attackers, adding that the case “shows how important it is for us to have some clarity on who is in our country and who is travelling through our country”.
But other German ministers have cautioned against conflating the Paris attacks with the migrant crisis, with Mr de Maizière warning politicians on Saturday against “drawing hasty links” that could raise tensions and increase the number of attacks on asylum seekers.
File photo: Refugees wait to enter a bus after crossing the Austrian-German border near the Bavarian village of Wegscheid, Germany Photo: Getty Images
Germany confirmed on Saturday that it has toughened up border controls with France following the attacks, with checks taking place on road, rail and air connections after France requested all of its neighbours to increase surveillance.
“Germany also remains firmly as ever in the firing line of international terrorism,” added Mr de Maizière.
It emerged on Sunday that Germany will bolster its fight against terrorism by hiring an additional 225 staff for its foreign intelligence agency, the BND.
The decision, approved on Thursday by a confidential parliamentary committee a day before the Paris attacks, will see 125 of the new roles involving intelligence gathering on terrorism, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported.