Dealing with refugees
Greens in Cottbus condemn joint CDU/AfD motion
The AfD in Cottbus initially called for the city’s status as a “safe haven” for refugees to be revoked – in the end a compromise was agreed with the CDU. photo
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
The proposal is about limiting the admission of refugees – an SPD man also agreed to it. Cottbus’ Greens are horrified: the firewall against the right is being “further torn down.”
The district association of the Cottbus Greens has submitted a joint application AfD and CDU criticized in the city council (SVV) for limiting the admission of refugees.
“The fact that the CDU and the AfD have jointly submitted an application here for the first time and that it was passed with one vote from the SPD shows how the firewall against the right is being further torn down,” said district association chairman Stefan Binder, according to the announcement. “The numerous abstentions during this vote also lack a moral compass and indirectly pave the way for a future black-blue coalition.”
The chairman of the local parliament from the SPD also agreed
According to city spokesman Jan Gloßmann, at the SVV meeting on Wednesday, the AfD initially requested that a resolution from 2021 be repealed, in which Cottbus declared itself a “safe haven” for refugees. The AfD and CDU factions then agreed on an amended motion in which the declaration as a “safe city” is retained, but the willingness to voluntarily accept refugees beyond the legal requirements is removed.
The RBB and the “Bild” newspaper initially reported on this.
The motion was approved with 19 votes in favor and 6 against, with numerous abstentions. As can be seen in the livestream of the SVV meeting, the chairman of the local parliament, Reinhard Drogla (SPD), also agreed to the motion, while the rest of the SPD parliamentary group and the Left parliamentary group largely abstained. There were three dissenting votes from the Greens and three more from other groups.