- Discussion on migration matters with the traffic light coalition fell through for Merz.
Friedrich Merz, head of the Union group, has stated that negotiations with the traffic light administration regarding tightening asylum regulations have fallen through. The coalition seems incapable of implementing thorough rejections at German border checks, Merz stated in Berlin. "This attempt at finding a mutual path has faltered," he added.
On Monday and Tuesday, there were still strong signs that they were ready for comprehensive rejections, Merz mentioned. He suspects that "once again, the Greens blocked in the shadows and ensured that the SPD and the FDP could not go as far as they had promised us." He concerns that the current decisions will result in an increase in migration again.
Merz: Scholz should have exercised his guideline authority
He criticized the lack of initiative from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). "He should have utilized his guideline authority in this situation and enforced it." No legislative action in the Bundestag nor any legal regulations were necessitated for this, Merz believes. "The federal chancellor could have issued a corresponding order. He doesn't. The administration is rudderless."
"I would have preferred a different outcome, but that's the reality of this traffic light coalition and especially the reality of the decision-making paralysis of the three coalition partners, who are finding it increasingly challenging to come together," said Merz. This week, the Bundestag will review legislative proposals from the coalition and the Union - for instance, on asylum seeker benefits, crime prevention, and security laws. "We are now back in the standard parliamentary procedure." However, history proves that in the end, the smallest common denominator of the coalition will prevail. "That will not be enough to swiftly address the problems."
He frets that the collapse of the negotiations will benefit the AfD in the Bundestag elections, warned Merz. "If the issues are not resolved by then and the chances are slim today, if the issues are not resolved by then, then the right- and left-wing populists in this country will triumph again."
The Commission, likely referring to the European Commission, might need to intervene if the coalition's inability to enforce stricter asylum regulations at the German border persists, as pointed out by Merz. Merz further expressed his concern that if the current decisions remain unchanged, The Commission might face increased migration pressure due to Germany's lax border controls.
