Agency Report –
Berlin – Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) for passing a motion in parliament calling for hard-line reforms to migration policy with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
In a statement released by her office on Thursday, Merkel – who led Germany between 2005 and 2021 – slammed the decision “to enable a majority with the votes of the AfD for the first time in a vote in the German Bundestag,” the country’s lower house of parliament.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz made a commitment to avoid passing legislation in the Bundestag with the help of the AfD, Merkel recalled.
“This proposal and the attitude associated with it were an expression of great national political responsibility, which I fully support,” the former chancellor said.
Migration has become the dominant theme in the German election campaign ahead of the vote on February 23 after a string of attacks attributed to suspects with migrant backgrounds.
Merkel demanded “that all democratic parties work together across party political boundaries, not as a tactical manoeuvre, but honestly, moderately and on the basis of applicable European law, to do everything possible to prevent such terrible attacks.”
