Hollande expresses solidarity with Germany, after Berlin attack

French President Francois Hollande expressed on Tuesday (December 20) his sympathies for Germany, after a deadly truck attack in Berlin.

German investigators said they suspect the driver of the truck that ploughed into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48, did so in a deliberate terrorist attack,

“France knows what a terrorist attack brings, what it can provoke — despair and at the same time, hardship; and how we must be united. It is true for a country when it’s been struck, it’s true for the whole of Europe and even for the whole world, in the face of terrorist threat,” Hollande said, during a joint statement with Senegalese President Macky Sall.

Hollande said he would express his sympathies directly to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“I reaffirm all the links that unite us with Germany including the fight against terrorism. Our cooperation is very strong our (security) services are working together. And here in France, all instructions have been given so that we can secure as much as possible all the sites and in particular the Christmas markets or other gatherings,” Hollande said.

The Berlin incident revived memories of the attack last July 14 in which a man drove a large truck into crowds of people celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday in the French Riviera city of Nice, killing 86.

More than 230 people have been killed in Islamist attacks over the last two years in France, including 130 in Paris by suicide bombers and gunmen in November 2015 – an assault for which the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility.