Berlin’s Governing Mayor, Kai Wegner of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has defended the proposed votes in the German Bundestag on stricter migration rules, even if a majority would only be possible with the support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
“It’s high time to regain control over who comes into our country” Wegner told the Handelsblatt in an interview. The federal states and municipalities have already reached their limits, he said.
Wegner emphasized that restoring order in migration policy is the task of all democratic parties. “We will only succeed in regaining the trust of the people in politics if we work together” he said, while ruling out any kind of cooperation with the AfD.
Wegner referred to the decisions made by the ministers of all states in November 2023 to bring about a change in migration policy, which the federal government has not implemented. Therefore, he said, it is necessary to end irregular migration, establish functioning border controls and carry out rejections at the border. “The states also need more options and the support of the federal government to carry out repatriations” Wegner added.