Friday, February 14, 2025
-0.1 C
Hamburg

German conservative sticks to migrant crackdown push despite outrage

Agency Report –

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz sparks political uproar with plans for hard-line immigration laws.

Despite provoking outrage from other mainstream political parties, German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he plans to push forward with a vote in parliament on hard-line immigration legislation.

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.

Hot this week

Hegseth Tells NATO Hard Power Provides Deterrence, Defense

Following a meeting yesterday of NATO defense ministers, Defense Secretary...

Toyota Develops New Fuel Cell System

Toyota City, Japan, February 14, 2025―Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota)...

Rubio, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Discuss Efforts for Negotiated Peace

WASHINGTON (CHATNEWSTV) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke...

N2.5bn: Court Acquits Former NBC DG

A federal high court in Abuja has discharged and...

Nigeria In Talks With Google To Advance AI And Digital Innovation

President Bola Tinubu has announced that Nigeria is in...

Latest

Hegseth Tells NATO Hard Power Provides Deterrence, Defense

Following a meeting yesterday of NATO defense ministers, Defense Secretary...

Toyota Develops New Fuel Cell System

Toyota City, Japan, February 14, 2025―Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota)...

Rubio, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Discuss Efforts for Negotiated Peace

WASHINGTON (CHATNEWSTV) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke...

N2.5bn: Court Acquits Former NBC DG

A federal high court in Abuja has discharged and...

Nigeria In Talks With Google To Advance AI And Digital Innovation

President Bola Tinubu has announced that Nigeria is in...

Ohio Aircraft Parts Supplier, Three Employees Indicted for Illegal Exports to Russia

CINCINNATI (CHATNEWSTV) — An Ohio-based supplier of aircraft parts...

APC Launches Nationwide Membership E-registration

All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced the launch of...
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Section

spot_imgspot_img

MORE FROM CHATNEWSTV

Ukraine: China welcomes talks between Trump, Putin

Agency Report - China has endorsed the proposed talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the resolution of Russia’s war...

20 injured in Munich as car crashes into a group of people

Agency Report - Munich  - At least 20 people were injured, some of them very seriously, after a car crashed into a crowd of people on...

Trump Sacks USAID Inspector General

Agency Report - US President Donald Trump has fired the independent inspector general for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), US media outlets reported...

U.K To Deny Citizenship To Illegal Immigrants

Home office has introduced a new policy, barring migrants who entered UK illegally from obtaining citizenship. This came after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on...

Twelve injured as train collides with semi-trailer near Hamburg

Agency Report - Twelve people were injured when a high-speed train collided with a semi-trailer outside the northern German city of Hamburg on Tuesday afternoon,...

Teacher stabs 8-year-old student to death

Agency Report - A female teacher in her 40s on Tuesday stabbed an eight-year-old student to death at an elementary school in the central city...

DHS Fires Four FEMA Officials Over Luxury Hotel Payments for Migrants

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has fired four Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials for bypassing leadership to approve “egregious” payments...

UK Ramps Up Migrant Removals, Deporting Nearly 19,000 Since Election

LONDON — The UK government has deported nearly 19,000 foreign criminals and immigration offenders since taking office, marking the highest rate of removals since...

German couple face life in prison for killing Ukrainians to take baby

Agency Report - A German couple who confessed to killing a Ukrainian refugee and her mother last year in order to steal a newborn baby...