German opposition calls on Scholz to pressure Commission on migration

Germany’s conservative opposition is urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz to pressure the EU Commission to step up the protection of the EU’s external borders regarding funding and infrastructure.

Seeking a solution across party lines on the migration file, Scholz invited opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU/EPP) and representatives of the federal states to a ‘migration summit’.

Scholz must personally address the Commission “so that EU funds are released for the protection of the EU’s external borders and the construction of infrastructure for border protection,” the CDU demanded at the summit.

If such an initiative “does not lead to success within one month, Germany [should] support the EU external border states directly and bilaterally, financially and in terms of personnel” to ensure border protection, the CDU suggested.

Migration is seen as the most important political problem in Germany that politicians should prioritise, according to 44% of respondents in a recent ARD DeutschlandTrend survey.

At the government level, the three-party coalition of Scholz’s SPD, the Greens, and the liberal FDP have found it challenging to agree on a common approach, while agreements to forge bilateral agreements with countries to curb the number of new asylum applications have been made.

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At the meeting, Merz handed Scholz a catalogue of 26 measures to limit illegal migration towards the end of the discussions, with the government saying it did not play a role in the conversations.

On a national level, the opposition called for a “common understanding” from Scholz that “Germany can tolerate an asylum influx of up to a maximum of 200,000 persons per year”.

At the end of September, Interior Minister Nancy Fraser (SPD) announced the immediate set up of “additional flexible focus controls on the smuggling routes at the borders to Poland and Czechia.” Compared to fixed border controls, flexible ones do not need the Commission’s approval.

The CDU also called for the borders with Poland, Czechia, and Switzerland to be reinforced with stationary border controls and for establishing return centres, as this would allow an accelerated hearing procedure for asylum seekers with little chance of staying.

(Kjeld Neubert | Euractiv.de)