Saxony’s Minister-President Michael Kretschmer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is calling for a significant reduction in the number of asylum seekers and is optimistic that the Social Democratic Party (SPD) will join him in this effort in a potential government coalition.
In an interview with the German newspaper “Bild” (Saturday edition), Kretschmer responded to a question about what needs to change in asylum policy, saying, “It’s clear that those who raise their hand against us must lose their asylum claim and they must be deported, relatively quickly and efficiently, not only after such a heinous crime, but much earlier.” He believes there are too many people in the country and that the authorities cannot adequately verify the identities of those already present.
“The number must go down” Kretschmer said. “Not 200,000, not 300,000, but maybe 20,000 or 30,000 per year.” He expressed confidence that the winner of the election will be able to implement a significant portion of their program. Therefore, he believes it is important for the CDU candidate, Friedrich Merz, to have a clear mandate. Kretschmer is convinced that “these things will be implemented and I know from many conversations with colleagues from the SPD that they are very unhappy about how things have become stuck, being in the ‘swamp’ of the Greens. This will resolve itself.” In his view, the SPD would be “superfluous” otherwise.