In the Bautzen district, the district council once cut integration services with votes from the CDU and AfD. District Administrator Witschas also caused displeasure. Since then, the district has continued to struggle with its asylum policy.
A year ago, Udo Witschas ruined Christmas for his CDU. Witschas, District Administrator of Bautzen, posted a Christmas speech. Topic: dealing with asylum seekers in the district.
He was not prepared to “let sport bleed for this asylum policy,” said Witschas about the possible occupancy of gyms. The same applies to the accommodation of “people who don’t know our culture” in rental houses. The district council had previously voted against new asylum accommodation. Also because there were protests.
Criticism for video and District council decision
Witschas had partly said what many local politicians said at the time. But his tone was wrong, at least. The federal CDU let it be known you distance yourself “With emphasis on the choice of words of the Bautzen district administrator” – also in the name of party leader Friedrich Merz. Saxony’s CDU state leader and Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer had to justify himself. Also because the district council had decided to cut off integration benefits for rejected asylum seekers. The application came from the AfD, the necessary votes from parts of the CDU parliamentary group and District Administrator Witschas.
The decision was later suspended, but is still considered a prime example of cooperation between the CDU and parts of the right-wing extremist AfD at the local level.
Exposed behind the border
The CDU is now talking about a “pragmatic approach” to the AfD. But asylum policy has not become quieter, except for Udo Witschas and the Bautzen district. Around 300,000 people live here, in eastern Saxony. The Lusatian coalfield begins in the north, and the district borders on the Czech Republic in the south. It’s the end of September, and a community talk with Kretschmer and Witschas is supposed to take place in a school.
Police officers surround a group of men on the side of the road. The eleven Syrians were abandoned. No border controls have been introduced yet. Dozens of asylum seekers still appear in the region every day.
Praise from Kretschmer
The citizens in the school auditorium have apparently gotten used to this sight. Kretschmer repeatedly encouraged her to discuss migration with him. But people prefer to ask about drainage ditches, daycare contributions and local councils.
What is also different than expected: Kretschmer highly praises the man who caused him so many problems – for broadband expansion and for promoting the establishment of the Bundeswehr in the region. Witschas himself says later in the conversation tagesschau.de: “Michael Kretschmer and I have an untroubled relationship of trust.”
Is it true that Kretschmer defended him publicly at the time, but reprimanded him in private? The Prime Minister told him his opinion. But that’s nobody’s business, says Witschas. He adds: “Mr. Merz hasn’t called me yet.”
Critic: “Not normal anywhere else”
Wischa’s critics see this as less relaxed. His statements became known through the X account “aushoywoj”. Behind it is a man from the circle who wants to remain anonymous. On the phone he says: “Things are normal here that are not normal elsewhere.” He is worried that the AfD could gain majorities in the next local elections in the district – also because Witschas is normalizing them.
Udo Witschas asks where one would go if district councilors were to vote against their convictions. Even for a district administrator, party politics is “secondary.” In addition, there is the atmosphere on site. Everywhere he goes he is told: “We form our own opinions and don’t let ourselves be constantly lectured.”
AWO is supposed to implement a residential project
It is precisely this mood that is weighing on the asylum policy in the district. For Marcus Beier, managing director of AWO Lausitz, the population’s acceptance is currently “the biggest challenge”. Beier operates five accommodations in the district for up to 1,800 people.
On behalf of the district, he is now supposed to rent 25 apartments for a total of 100 people. It is a path on which so far No Saxon district has bet as little as Bautzen. The approach is “sensible,” says Beier. The vast majority of those in the district who have spoken out in recent months ultimately reject central shelters. And those entitled to asylum and refugees would hardly find housing on their own.
There are vacancies in the district, but the landlords are resentful, also because of the “current political and media mood”. Beier misses statements from federal politics about how this should be dealt with. He relies on his good contacts with municipalities and landlords.
Refugees should learn
The housing project will cost a total of 1.2 million euros over three years and passed the district council despite protests from the AfD. After the decision, Witschas said that people who were believed to “know how to behave in our society” should move in. It sounded as if he was emphasizing that he had everything under control.
What Witschas means: The residents of the housing project have completed an “orientation phase” in Germany. Marcus Beier, on the other hand, says that newcomers first have to get to know the administrative processes. They are then taught “what the house rules say, how the garbage is to be separated, and when the night’s rest begins.” That also means integration. And some of this can only be conveyed in a housing project.
However, the AWO’s previous housing projects for families of Afghan local workers and Ukrainians have been a success: all of them have now taken over their own apartments or found their own.
AfD: Firewall “crumbling from below”
If the AfD had had its way, the district would now be organizing tents and containers instead of apartments. For her it was about the symbolic effect. Jörg Urban, state leader and parliamentary group leader of the AfD in the state parliament, says that anger over federal policy has long been noticeable in Bautzen. One of the first Monday protests took place here. The AfD “picked up on this mood”.
As far as the CDU is concerned, Bautzen is not a special case. There are “intact contacts with the CDU base” everywhere in Saxony, says Urban. He doesn’t name names, but of course we’re happy “when the CDU in Bautzen takes up our issues, the district administrator acts in our interests and AfD applications are approved.”
Urban is running as a direct candidate in the district in the 2024 state election. The AfD is currently leading in the polls. He is confident that the CDU’s “so-called firewall” will “crumble from below.” The AfD would then come into the state government.
Collective accommodation full
In the CDU we keep our distance from this. Witschas points out that he clearly beat the AfD candidate in his election as district administrator in 2022. Prime Minister Kretschmer has even tied his political future to the fact that there will be no cooperation with the AfD in the country.
For Kretschmer, however, not acting on asylum policy would mean “empowering populists and enemies of democracy.” He continues to call for an upper limit and also says, with a view to party colleague Witschas: “A policy that forces things past the population is doomed to fail.”
Udo Witschas sees his district’s “capacity limit” already reached. While there were still around 100 places available in accommodation at the end of September, there were none left at the end of November, according to the district office. However, 165 people are still expected by the end of the year. The district is working on additional housing projects.