Former CDU Chief Armin Laschet Defends the Migration Policy Course of the Union’s Chancellor Candidate Friedrich Merz.
“Friedrich Merz has clearly stated what will change if he becomes Chancellor” Laschet told the news portal T-Online. It’s also about the voter being able to recognize “different positions and attitudes” even if the Union as the opposition party loses a vote. “Not doing anything is not an alternative. After the attacks in Solingen, Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg, there are justified concerns in the population that we cannot ignore.”
Laschet voted in favor of the motion and the legislative proposal in the Bundestag last week, despite having called for resistance against the AfD on several occasions in the past year and being a confidant of former Chancellor Angela Merkel. He sees no contradiction in this: “The wall stands. Merz is very clear about the AfD and has linked his personal fate to the fact that he will never cooperate with them or form a coalition with them. Mrs. Weidel even complains that he doesn’t greet her in the elevator.”
“Therefore, I would not over-dramatize the events of this week” said the candidate for the 2021 federal election. The message is clear: “The AfD is jubilant too early, because by the federal election on February 23, they will realize that no one wants to speak with them or cooperate with them. Every vote for the AfD is lost and hinders the political change.”
However, Laschet’s personal approval of Merz’s migration policy is conditional on the preservation of the Schengen area in Europe. “Merz wants no border closures and I wouldn’t accept that either. He wants to control borders in a targeted manner, in accordance with European law” he said. “Therefore, I say: Distinguish, act targeted and do everything to ensure that the Europe of Helmut Kohl with open Schengen borders is preserved in the long term.”
Laschet also sees the failure of the “Border Control Act” in the Bundestag on Friday as a result of the lack of support from the FDP. “This law was rejected by the FDP in the committee in solidarity with the coalition in November. After the failure of the coalition, they were free to make a different decision, but it was not enough.”
The Union, on the other hand, is not split, in his view, even after Merkel’s intervention. “I have great respect for Angela Merkel’s term of office and her decisions in 2015 on migration policy. But she also knows: Germany needs a new system of humanity and the control of illegal immigration ten years later” Laschet said. He added: “Even if everyone in the CDU/CSU faction had been there, it would not have been enough for a majority.