The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz has made a drastic comparison to the federal government to curb irregular migration asked. “The population will go crazy, the people, when they see that 300,000 asylum seekers have been rejected, are not allowed to leave the country, are getting full benefits, are getting full medical care,” said Merz in the “Welt-Talk” on the Welt television station.
“They sit at the doctor and have their teeth changed, and the German citizens next door don’t get any appointments. “What you are doing here is a catastrophe for this country,” he added, addressing the party leaders of the SPD and Greens, Lars Klingbeil and Omid Nouripour.
“We must we talked about the pull factors here in Germany (…). They exist, and massively so, so that people come here in large numbers,” explained Merz.
Merz: The Greens as a problem
The problem in the debate about limiting migration is the Greens, said Merz. “And if the Chancellor is looking for a solution, then we are ready to talk about it. That doesn’t mean we’re joining this government.”
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“We said that if the Chancellor and the Greens don’t have a majority in parliament, then “We are ready to talk to him about having them with us,” he added.
The SPD and the Greens accuse Merz of populism
The SPD and the Greens then accused him of the worst kind of populism. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy FaeserSPD’s top candidate for the Hesse election in a week and a half, immediately objected. “This is pathetic populism on the backs of the most vulnerable. Anyone who speaks like that is playing people off against each other and only strengthening the AfD,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “And it’s wrong: Asylum seekers are only treated if they are acutely ill or suffering from pain.”
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On Thursday, Faeser added in Brussels: “This is the populism that I also discussed in the Bundestag last week.”
Merz acts like the uncle from the family chat
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert harshly criticized Merz in the “Spiegel”. “We all know that one uncle from the family chat on WhatsApp who always shares unchecked false information“said Kühnert. “It’s just annoying in the family chat, but when your uncle is the head of the largest opposition faction in the German Bundestag, it’s unprofessional and dangerous.”
“The derailment to the right is deliberately sought here.”
The parliamentary managing director of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Katja Mast, demanded an apology from the CDU leader. “Merz should have the decency to apologize for this,” she told the “Rheinische Post”.
Mast emphasized: “Here the derailment to the right is deliberately sought.” The statements were “still incorrect in substance”. Merz is playing with fire. “This is extremely dangerous,” added the SPD politician.
The Federal Government’s Commissioner for Integration, Reem Alabali-Radovan (SPD), also spoke up: “Using false allegations to stir up sentiment against the weakest is absolutely unworthy, Mr. Merz!” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. “They want to divide our society.” This is “absolutely irresponsible.”
Also the Green Party leader Ricarda Lang Merz immediately contradicted. “Friedrich Merz deliberately plays groups off against each other, spreading false information. This doesn’t solve a single problem, but it fuels hatred. This is unworthy of the chairman of a people’s party,” she wrote on X.
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Green party leader Katharina Dröge accused Merz of deliberately dividing. “This fomenting, refugees are taking away our dentist appointments, this is a very deliberate division in society,” she told the “Phoenix” broadcaster. That is “poisoning the climate” and from their point of view “irresponsible”.
The Green Omid Nouripour appealed to Merz during the broadcast: “If we all decide that we are destroying the West, we will not get any further.”
The SPD leader Klingbeil, who also took part, wanted the “acrimony” to disappear from the debate – and he warned against populism. Merz draws pictures that contribute to “that those you don’t want to make strong become stronger“. What was meant was the AfD.
Criticism also from the left
The chairman of the left-wing faction in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, called the comments “a completely unacceptable position because it pits the weakest against the weak.”
It’s also simply not true, he told the station. “You stir up fears that shouldn’t even be there in this form“. This is “really irresponsible”.
Support from the Union
Friedrich Merz receives support from Union politicians in the Bundestag for his controversial statements on medical care for migrants.
The parliamentary group’s health policy spokesman, Tino Sorge (CDU), told the “Rheinische Post” (Friday): “Hundreds of thousands of rejected asylum seekers in Germany have been obliged to leave the country for years. Nevertheless, you can use the German healthcare system for free.“
Merz is right and that needs to be discussed. “It is a reality that medical appointments are becoming scarcer in many places due to the stress caused by migrants. Numerous municipalities have been confirming this for months. This also applies to daycare and school places.”
Furthermore, it is clear, the CDU politician continued, that the health and social system is a pull factor for people – i.e. an incentive to enter Germany. “Many migrants in Germany receive first-class health care according to European standards for the very first time in their lives, from day one.”
After 18 months, the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act will give the vast majority of migrants access to the same type of access that German GKV insured people have. “But you don’t have to pay anything for it,” said Sorge.
He called the criticism from the ranks of the traffic light coalition “hypocritical indignation”. This says a lot about how critical opinions are dealt with.
CDU domestic politician Philipp Amthor also defended Merz’s statements. “Due to the uncontrolled immigration, which we are also experiencing as a result of this traffic light policy, we are of course putting a lot of pressure on the infrastructure in our country,” he told RTL/ntv’s “Early Start”. “Daycare places, schools, health care – of course there are problems everywhere. And this problem pressure increases due to uncontrolled immigration.” (Tsp, dpa, AFP)