Allegedly lax migration policy
Merz: Traffic light pours “water on the mills of the AfD”
1/14/2023 7:46 am
For Friedrich Merz, one thing is certain: the federal government is losing support in society with its migration policy. The needs of the municipalities are ignored – and that only strengthens one party. Politicians have to say what is, according to Merz. He had “looked at the mouth of the people”.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz has accused the traffic light coalition of strengthening the AfD with its migration policy. The federal government is pushing forward “without hearing about the needs of the municipalities, without considering the limits of capacity and without making any effort to achieve a broad political consensus,” Merz told the “Tagesspiegel”. This undermines public acceptance. “And that’s grist to the mills of the AfD,” said Merz.
With a view to the Berlin New Year’s Eve riots, the CDU chairman spoke out in favor of consistent action by the rule of law. “You won’t solve any social problems with criminal law alone. But it shows those affected the limits,” he said. In Berlin, the late Neukölln juvenile court judge Kirsten Heisig showed how to do it with the so-called Neukölln model. “The penalty must follow the act on the foot,” emphasized Merz. “The criminals from New Year’s Eve, like elsewhere, should actually be convicted within four weeks of the riots.” The German Code of Criminal Procedure also provides this.
Merz also again defended his statement in the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz”, in which he had described young people of Arabic origin as “little pashas”. This is not populism, rather he “looked at the people’s mouths” and reported an observation,” said Merz. This observation is based on reports from schools, on descriptions by parents and teachers, and on letters. “Politics must say what is,” emphasized Merz. “Teachers’ associations confirm that there is a significant number of students with Arabic roots who simply do not respect the authority of teachers, especially female teachers in Germany.”
Boys like this, “who today don’t recognize the authority of the teachers in the schools, will question the authority of the state tomorrow on the street,” warned the CDU leader. The state and society would have to “intervene earlier”. The “excesses” on New Year’s Eve made the need for an integration debate clear. “We ducked away for too long,” criticized Merz.
On New Year’s Eve, emergency and rescue services were massively attacked in Berlin and other cities. A total of 145 people were arrested in Berlin during the night. Most of them did not have German citizenship. The riots therefore triggered a debate about integration problems – in the middle of the election campaign for the re-election for the Berlin House of Representatives.