German Minister-President Stephan Weil of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has criticized the CDU’s Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz for a harshened migration policy in the German Bundestag. Weil told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that Merz must be held accountable for “committing a breach of trust, a breach of the law and a taboo breach.” He described the event as a “black day for democracy.”
For the first time, “radical forces” had the potential to influence the majority in the Bundestag, despite Merz’s promise that no decision would be made with the help of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Weil said. “Exactly that happened yesterday.”
Merz’s proposals, according to Weil, are “largely illegal” and “contrary to the law of the European Union.” Many Union members, Weil claimed, are no longer denying this.
It was “disturbing” to see the members of the Union’s faction looking down in shame after the vote, while the AfD members celebrated, Weil said. Merz had given the AfD a triumph and prepared a party, he added.
Yesterday, a motion by the Union to toughen up the migration policy was passed in the Bundestag, with the support of the AfD faction. The motion demands the comprehensive rejection of asylum seekers at Germany’s borders.