Agency Report –
The proposals, which include turning away all migrants without proper documentation and bringing back permanent controls on Germany’s borders, are controversial.
But even more incendiary in German politics have been Merz’s willingness to break long-standing taboos and use votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in order to pass the motions if necessary.
Merz put forward the proposals after a knife attack in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last week left two people dead. The suspect in the killings is a 28-year-old Afghan citizen whose application to remain in Germany had been rejected.
Despite harsh denunciations from other politicians, Merz stuck with his vows over the weekend and doubled down again on Monday.
“What is right in the matter does not become wrong because the wrong people agree. This clear positioning remains,” said Merz, who is widely seen as the likely frontrunner to replace Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) after the upcoming February 23 election.
Merz said that he wouldn’t shy away from the proposals because he might need to rely on the AfD for support in the lower house of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.
He said on Monday that Scholz’s SPD, the Greens and the pro-business liberal Free Democrats (FDP) should support his proposals as well if they want to keep the AfD from having a decisive say over policy.
The time has passed “when we in Germany only make decisions based on tactical considerations. Now we have to make decisions on the merits,” said Merz.
