Germany wouldn’t fly solo on tougher EU immigration
Merz, the frontrunner to become the next German Chancellor, has described the European Union’s asylum system as “dysfunctional” and wants to crack down on irregular immigration at the national level. Although opponents worry this would bring Germany into conflict with its neighbors, many EU countries have already hardened their stance on this issue. German-driven change might be more welcome than many anticipate in Berlin.
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Merz had originally launched a fairly pedestrian campaign focused on economic rejuvenation in the run-up to the Feb. 23 German elections. But last week’s knife attack in Bavaria — in which a small child and a man who tried to intervene were killed by an asylum seeker from Afghanistan — changed everything. Merz immediately responded with a plan to impose “an effective entry ban” for anyone without valid papers — explicitly including asylum seekers — from day one in office.
In order to achieve this, Merz proposed increased border controls, more capacity to incarcerate illegal immigrants and “daily repatriations.” His party, the conservative CDU/CSU, wants the German parliament to vote on these proposals ahead of the election to show it means business and to put pressure on what is left of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s collapsed center-left coalition.
As it stands, Merz's plan amounts to Germany
