Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, whose party leads the polls, put migration in the spotlight following a knife attack a week ago in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg by a rejected Afghan asylum-seeker who killed a man and a 2-year-old boy. Germans will elect a new parliament on Feb.
Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Merz apparently seeks to make the Union look decisive in forcing a tougher approach, which he hopes will blunt the appeal of the anti-immigration AfD, while making Scholz and the Greens look weak.
The Aschaffenburg attack followed knife attacks in Mannheim and in Solingen last year in which the suspects were immigrants from Afghanistan and Syria, respectively — in the latter case, also a rejected asylum-seeker who was supposed to have left the country. The outgoing government says much has changed already. He says people who are supposed to leave Germany must no longer be released if picked up by police. The conservative leader, whose Union may have to form a coalition with center-left parties for him to become chancellor, said last week that he would bring the border control proposals to parliament regardless of whose support they might attract.
That implied he would accept AfD support. On Friday, proposed legislation from the Union on less drastic changes to migration rules is to go to a vote. It could pass with AfD support.
Merz insisted his position remains unchanged, that he did not and will not work with AfD, and would do everything to prevent radicals coming to power. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.
