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Those who prefer their mobile phone to remain anonymous are in for a shock in Germany, as ministers agreed on Wednesday to require anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card to present ID. “You could buy a prepaid phone today in the name of Donald Duck,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said after the weekly cabinet meeting. “Knowledge is power. And we want to oppose terrorist organizations powerfully,” he went on in a press conference defending the new anti-terror law that the rule falls under. […] “The new anti-terror package mixes up widely varying enlargements of powers for the security services...

In response to the Brussels terror attacks, the German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière called on Tuesday evening for stronger European cooperation on exchanging personal data. “Data protection is all well and good, but in times of crisis security comes first,” de Maizière told public broadcaster ARD. “The external borders of the Schengen zone have too many gaps in them. We need a register which shows who’s coming in and who’s leaving.” The minister also called for joining up the various “data pots” which security services in EU member states compile. “Europe as a whole is threatened and we need...

EU countries should record data on visitors entering the visa-free area in Europe, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière has said. “We want to know who is coming,” he added. The new travel registry would boost the security of European nations, de Maizière said in (an) interview (with) “Die Welt” published on Saturday. Specifically, the interior minister referred to the so-called Schengen visa-free zone, which currently incorporates 28 European countries, most of which are EU members. According to de Maizière, officials need to gather data on the visitors from countries outside the Schengen zone. …

The head of the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that Berlin had sent a planeload of Afghan refugees back to their native country, emphasizing that they "had no prospects to stay in Germany." Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere confirmed that the 125 refugees had landed in Kabul and would receive some financial support. [...] Germany has been urging people in the war-torn central Asian country to remain there in an effort to stem the flow of migrants that has put a heavy burden on Berlin for months. De Maiziere said it was important for Germany to "help people help themselves"...

Jewish groups pushed back against government insistence that anti-Semitism is not growing in Germany at a gathering on Tuesday, saying that newly-arrived Muslim migrants and the traditional far-right both posed a threat to their safety. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told the Jewish community in Frankfurt that he was more worried about home-grown Muslim extremists than any arriving among refugees. He was countered by Salomon Korn, president of the Frankfurt Jewish community, who said that most of the new arrivals came from countries which did not enjoy an "englightened" version of Islam -- unlike Turkey, where most Muslims previously living...

Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière ordered the dissolving of salafist organization Tauhid Germany on Thursday, saying that the group radicalized youth and encouraged them to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS. The Interior Ministry claimed in a statement on its website that Tauhid Germany is a successor organization to Millatu Ibrahim, a group which was banned in 2012. The ministry reports that Tauhid Germany spreads propaganda on the internet which “calls for the removal of Germany’s peaceful democratic structure.” …

Conservative members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition put forward a united front at the weekend against recent developments in the city of Wuppertal. Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said civilians wearing uniforms bearing the logo “Shariah police” could not simply start patrolling German streets. The groups reportedly hovered around sites like discotheques and gambling houses, telling passers-by to refrain from gambling and alcohol. Wuppertal’s police have begun pressing charges. “Sharia law is not tolerated on German soil,” de Maizière told mass-circulation daily Bild on Saturday. “Nobody can take it upon themselves to abuse the good name of the German police.”...

In an interview, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, 60, warns that American spying has become “boundless” and expresses sorrow that approval ratings for the United States have plummeted in Germany. […] “I am thinking of the foreign policy damage. Because the greater damage has actually been inflicted by the Americans and not the Germans. And I say this as a staunch trans-Atlanticist. Approval ratings for Americans in German polls are lower right now than they have been in a long time. The last time this was the case was during a certain phase of the policies of George W....

Two weeks ago, German officials in Brussels and other European capitals sounded the alarm. France was trying “to discredit” the German proposal to reform NATO, according to a presentation given to (German Defense Minister Thomas) de Maizière on Oct. 9. … The resistance of the French is directed against de Maizière’s reform proposal, which the defense ministers will first address at the meeting on Tuesday. The German concept envisages that the alliance in future be divided into “clusters,” which will each be led by one of the larger NATO member states. … But going forward, Berlin wants such groupings to...