Germany’s main opposition party, the CDU, is urging the country’s three-way coalition government to work with the states to tighten asylum policy, fearing that the issue could be left to the far-right AfD party, which is currently performing well in the polls.
Under pressure from the opposition and the German states, Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the heads of the German states in November to discuss ways of tightening the country’s asylum policy. Now, there are growing calls for the results to be discussed.
“The power of populists and extremists is always fuelled by the democrats’ inability to act. This is especially true when it comes to one of the major problems of our time: the migration question,” Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU/EPP), told Tagesspiegel.
Wüst called for another meeting between the heads of state and government and Scholz to assess the asylum measures taken so far.
His demand follows the rising popularity of AfD, which is currently polling above any of the governing parties at 22%, which sets them only behind the CDU, a recent poll has shown.
However, the matter has become especially sensitive after independent and investigative not-for-profit newsroom Correctiv revealed that AfD members met with influential businessmen and extremist businesses in November at a hotel in secret and discussed plans to expel unwanted residents, questioning the fundamental rights of German citizens who do not fit into their viewpoint.
Germany wrestles with calls to ban AfD – again
Revelations that members of Germany’s far-right AfD party secretly met with extremist neo-Nazis and businessmen in a hotel in November have sparked fresh calls for the party to be thrown out of parliament at a time it is polling higher than any of the governing parties at 22%.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner (also CDU) joined the call for the government to work with the states, calling for “another migration summit between the federal and state governments”.
“We need a joint effort by the democratic parties to overcome the challenges of our time,” Wegner told Tagesspiegel. “We must finally change course in migration policy, for example,” he added.
But Kevin Kühnert, the General Secretary of Scholz’s ruling SPD, rejected the proposal and called “Wüst’s demand tactless, especially in these times”, referring to the recent revelations.
MEP Dennis Radtke (CDU/EPP) commented on X, saying, “A cross-party solution to the refugee issue is not a concession to the AfD, but would be an important contribution to the fight against migration.”
Germany, which saw almost one in three asylum seekers applying to EU countries, Switzerland and Norway in 2023, apply there, according to unpublished figures from the EU’s Asylum Agency (EUAA) seen by Die Welt, may well see a drop in numbers as a result of stricter asylum rules.
Although Germany’s status as an economic powerhouse in the European Union may continue to attract many, if a more restrictive asylum policy has the same effect as Denmark’s, it could end up not only making it more difficult to enter the country but also as Die Welt reports, potentially deter future attempts to enter in the first place.
(Kjeld Neubert | Euractiv.de)
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Source: euractiv.com
