With votes from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Germany’s opposition conservatives broke a taboo on working with the far-right on Wednesday by gaining parliamentary approval for a proposal to significantly restrict migration.
Although the plan is not legally binding, the AfD’s role in approving it is symbolic in Germany, where a national election is scheduled for February 23 and the far-right party is predicted to come in second only to the conservatives.
The leader of Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc, Friedrich Merz, is eager to take advantage of the initiative on immigration policy, which has come back into sharper focus following the arrest of an Afghan asylum seeker last week for a series of fatal stabbings.
Merz’s two non-binding proposals in parliament, which demanded tighter security and the closing of Germany’s land borders to undocumented migrants, sparked hours of heated discussion in the lower chamber of the Bundestag.
Merz was aware that he would need the AfD’s backing because the motions were opposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens. Only three votes were needed to pass the land border measure, and the security plan was turned down.
In an attempt to keep the AfD out of power, Merz’s strategies, according to Scholz and other critics, break the taboo among mainstream parties against collaborating with the party, which is watched by German security agencies on suspicion of being right-wing extremist.
All Democrats have always agreed since the Federal Republic of Germany was established more than 75 years ago: “We do not share a common cause with the extreme right,” Scholz stated in an address to parliament.
“In the heat of the moment, you have violated this fundamental consensus of our republic,” he warned Merz.
Although Merz’s party now denies such a possibility, Scholz cautioned against a potential future coalition between the conservatives and the AfD following the election.
In a letter to parliament, Germany’s Catholic and Protestant churches cautioned that working with the far-right undermined the nation’s democracy. Merz’s Christian Democrats, whose name conjures up their religious ties, are sure to take offense at this reprimand.
The leader of the Central Council of Muslims, Abdassamad El Yazidi, charged that politicians were adopting the far-right’s stance on immigration.
Migrant-affiliated groups are being vilified. He claimed that it is not only unethical but also harmful to our nation’s social cohesiveness.
After the election, coalition building will probably be much more difficult as a result of Merz’s action. Senior Greens and SPD politicians claimed he had shown himself incapable of leading.
Merz defended Wednesday’s motions by stating that a choice was not incorrect simply because the wrong people backed it, even though it hurt to have to rely on the AfD’s backing. Merz plans to present a draft bill on Friday that will strengthen the migrant crackdown.
With millions of asylum seekers arriving in recent years to escape poverty and conflict in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, Merz has accused the SPD and Greens of impeding what he claims is a required change in asylum policy.
Since Scholz’s government passed a number of legislation cracking down on migration in recent years and increased border controls, although not enough, the number of asylum seekers has decreased, according to Merz.
Merz runs the risk of legitimizing the far-right party and alienating mainstream conservative supporters by eroding the so-called firewall surrounding the AfD, according to political observers.
According to a poll released on Tuesday by pollster Forsa, support for the CDU/CSU fell three points to 28% in the days following Merz’s vow of a crackdown on migrants. Both the AfD and Scholz’s SPD increased by two points to 17% and 21%, respectively.
Alice Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for chancellor, said on Wednesday that mainstream parties were treating her party disrespectfully.
She stated during the Bundestag debate that the so-called firewall is nothing more than an anti-democratic cartel agreement that tries to exclude millions of votes.