Bavarian Premier Markus Söder has demanded a “border closure for illegal migration” after an attack in the southern city of Aschaffenburg left two people killed, including a 2-year-old child.
“Our motto must be security first,” Söder, the leader of the Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), said on Thursday.
The CSU is in alliance with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at the national level, with elections to be held on February 23.
Germany is a humane country, Söder said. “But in the end, this cannot be at the expense of our own population.”
A future CDU/CSU government will therefore have a guiding principle of “zero tolerance, zero compromise” on migration, Söder said.
The Bavarian premier said he has agreed on a fundamental change in migration policy with the CDU/CSU’s candidate to become chancellor, Friedrich Merz.
The conservative bloc wants fewer people entering Germany and more leaving the country, he added.
To do so, Söder said federal police must be allowed to turn back migrants at Germany’s borders and deportations must be stepped up.
