Emails Point to NRW State Chancellery Limiting Solingen Attack Disclosures

Overview

• Newly disclosed internal emails indicate the State Chancellery pushed ministries to hold back answers on their communications from the Solingen attack weekend.
• The documents suggest the interior and refugee ministries had prepared detailed replies, including text messages, but were told to wait for the parliamentary inquiry process.
• The revelations recast criticism of former refugee minister Josefine Paul, who faced months of blame for sparse communication after the attack.
• Opposition lawmakers from the SPD accuse Wüst’s office of blocking the legislature’s right to information and call on him to explain the decision-making.
• The State Chancellery says it acted within the law and cites a 1993 court ruling that lets the government refer questions to a parliamentary inquiry instead of answering them directly.