A leading German politician has unveiled a plan to crack down on migration, promising to table controversial motions that would immediately bring about a blanket ban on all illegal migrants entering the country. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union CDU , this weekend announced the shocking move which will bring about a parliamentary vote to 'end illegal immigration'.
The motion, if passed, would trigger an immediate declaration of a national emergency and enact a lockdown across all of Germany 's land borders, with guards instructed to repel 'all attempts at illegal entry, without exception', even from neighbouring 'safe' countries. Another of his proposed motions would grant Germany's federal police service greater powers to arrest and accelerate the deportation of illegal immigrants, according to the country's media.
Merz's power play has been widely criticised by other politicians and political commentators who warn the move could be strongly challenged by the EU - of which Germany is a leading member. But 66 per cent of Germans support Merz's plan to reject illegal migrants and asylum seekers at the border, according to a poll conducted by leading pollster INSA that was commissioned by German outlet BILD. Merz's move also prompted accusations that his alliance could be cosying up to the Alternative for Germany AfD party, despite pledges by almost all of the nation's political groups to create a 'firewall' against the hard-right group.
The AfD, currently sitting second in the polls behind Merz's conservative alliance, has been backed by US tech billionaire Elon Musk who sent supporters into raptures this weekend, addressing a party rally in Halle from a huge video screen. Participants stand with placards during a rally against the far right at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 25 January Participants gather for a demonstration against a political shift to the right to stand together during a 'Sea of Lights for Democracy' in front of the landmark Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on January 25, AfD is polling at around 20 per cent ahead of Germany's February 23 elections, a record for a party that has already shattered a decades-old taboo in post-war Germany against supporting the far right.
It has experienced a boost in the polls following high-profile violent attacks carried out by migrants in recent weeks and from the support of Musk, who this weekend told thousands of party supporters gathered in the eastern city of Halle that their party was 'the best hope for the future of Germany'.
