Germany’s Parliament Passes Motion to Restrict Immigration—With Help From AfD
Germany’s parliament narrowly passed a resolution on Wednesday to tighten migration and asylum laws, with support from the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. This vote broke a long-standing taboo in German politics to never cooperate with the far-right AfD.
Proposal: Christian Democratic Union (cdu) leader and popular German chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz first proposed the motion while promising not to cooperate with the AfD, which has a strong stance against immigration, particularly regarding Muslims.
However, after a Christmas market car ramming killed six people in Magdeburg in December and a knife attack killed two in the city of Aschaffenburg last week, with both attacks carried out by migrants, Merz pushed for a motion calling on the government to:
- Launch permanent border controls
- Reject “all attempts to enter the country illegally without exception”
- Immediately detain people who are required to leave Germany
He pushed for the motion while accepting AfD support.
“We will introduce [the proposals] independently of who approves them,” Merz said. “If the AfD agrees, they agree. If they don’t, let them abstain. There are no conversations, no negotiations, no joint government between us.”
How many more people have to be murdered? How many more children have to fall victims to such acts of violence before you believe that this is a threat to public safety and order?
—Friedrich Merz
Vote: The motion narrowly passed in the Bundestag with 348 votes in favor, 345 against and 10 abstaining. The motion is nonbinding, but Merz could push for a decision as early as this week.
AfD leader Alice Weidel hailed it as “a historic day for Germany.”
A new era is beginning here and now, and we are leading it!
—Bernd Baumann, AfD first parliamentary secretary
Firewall: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Merz’s decision to accept votes from the AfD an “unforgivable mistake.” His cooperation with the AfD has broken a so-called “firewall” among Germany’s democratic parties that prohibits them from working with the far right.
Social Democratic Party leader Rolf Mützenich argued it is impossible to “simply go back to business as usual” because the cdu has “broken out of the political center.”
Weidel celebrated, saying, “The firewall has fallen.”
Merz, who is seeking the chancellorship in the upcoming February 23 election, had to decide between maintaining that firewall or potentially losing voters who are angry about migration to the AfD. The cdu has been leading in polls with 29 percent support, while the AfD is in second place with 23 percent.
Strong leader: The motion passing through the Bundestag shows the opinion of the German people. Many are upset with the increasing attacks and chaos caused by unchecked migration, as well as many other issues plaguing Germany, and the people want a strong leader.
Will Merz be the man the German people are looking for? To learn more, read “Friedrich Merz: Germany’s Next Chancellor?”