Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s criticism of the federal government’s refugee policy is being met with rejection in her home CDU chapter.
CDUs local leader Daniel Peters sees this as evidence that the CDU’s change of course is having an impact.
Merkel, former leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, has criticised the CDU’s asylum and refugee policies. This is causing reactions in her own party, writes Die Welt.
– Mrs Merkel has every right to publicly criticise this course. Interestingly, this very criticism shows that the CDU is serious about the necessary policy change and that the new federal government is implementing the change, said CDU state leader in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Daniel Peters.
Merkel herself has been CDU state leader in the same province. Her remarks come amid conflict on the border between Poland and Germany, and Germany’s decision in May to turn away asylum seekers at the border.
– When someone says «asylum» at the German border, a procedure has to take place. Directly at the border, if you like, but a procedure, says Merkel.
– That’s how I understood European law, she adds.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office rejected Merkel’s criticism.
– If someone has already been granted asylum somewhere in Europe, if someone has come to us through safe countries in Europe, then of course we are not dealing with someone who is a refugee, but with people who come from safe countries, a spokesman told broadcaster ARD.(NTB-DPA)
In a debate on Tuesday evening, Merkel defended her 2015 decision not to close the borders to refugees for humanitarian reasons. At the same time, she criticised current border controls. She also said that she was aware that it would lead to major problems when she uttered the famous words on 31 August 2015: – Wir schaffen das!
The former chancellor, who many critics believe destroyed both Germany and Europe, expressed understanding that people worry about the wave of violence from Muslim immigrants, but at the same time claimed that many migrants have «integrated wonderfully and are now contributing to the country’s prosperity.»
However, the current problems cannot be solved solely through increased border controls, although this may be necessary temporarily, according to Merkel.
– Even on an issue as important as migration, we have to think in European terms. Otherwise, we won’t do it justice, Merkel warned.
«Thinking European» seems to be the solution to everything for EU supporters. Others believe this is just a way of shirking responsibility for developments in their own countries. Little is happening in Brussels to prevent mass immigration. The EU’s border control agency Frontex, for example, has little to boast about.
Among other things, Merkel fears border control, as this attacks one of the main principles of the Schengen Agreement, which allows free travel without passport control in large parts of Europe.
– Border controls must not lead to us no longer having freedom of movement.
CDU state leader Peters had some words of praise for the 70-year-old Merkel and her life’s work, but emphasised that a change in migration policy was inevitable and that CDU leader and Chancellor Friedrich Merz has chosen the right course.
– Many feel that if even Angela Merkel is distancing herself so clearly, then the new course is probably not just symbolic politics, but a genuine realignment, Peters emphasised.
It was during Merkel’s reign that Germany decided to shut down all its nuclear power plants, after Merkel was frightened by the Fukushima accident in Japan in March 2011. Germany would instead focus on gas supplies from Russia.
This has led to massive problems for Germany on the energy front, particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the blowing up of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
