The CDU’s chancellor candidate, Friedrich Merz, has criticized the European asylum right in general after the knife attack in Aschaffenburg. “Everything we’ve tried to do in Europe so far, Schengen, Dublin, the introduction of Eurodac data, everything is now completely dysfunctional” Merz told the RTL/ntv editorial team on Thursday evening.
According to Merz, he sees no legal hurdles for his plan to implement strict controls and rejections of asylum seekers at the German border. “The EU treaty gives us a legal basis to give precedence to national law if the rule of law in our country is endangered. And it’s not just endangered, it’s shaken to its foundations” Merz said.