Opposition head Friedrich Merz is calling for reforms to Germany’s migration laws after a deadly knife attack in which an Afghan man facing deportation is the main suspect – even if they pass with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Merz said in Berlin on Friday that his conservative parliamentary group, made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), will table motions next week in the German parliament “regardless of who agrees with them.”
Merz, the favourite to become Germany’s next chancellor, has repeatedly ruled out co-operating with the AfD, who are polling second behind his bloc ahead of elections on February 23.
German mainstream parties have previously gone to great lengths to avoid passing legislation which could attract the support of the far-right party or increase its influence.
However, the attack in the southern city of Aschaffenburg could prove a turning point, after a number of similar incidents in the last year.
The suspect in the stabbing in which two people died is a 28-year-old Afghan national who was due to be deported.
While Merz insisted that his stance has not changed, a motion passing in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, with AfD support would represent an unprecedented step.
“Anyone who wants to vote in favour of these motions should do so, and anyone who rejects them should reject them,” said Merz.
“I don’t look to the right or the left; I only look straight ahead on these issues,” he added.
Merz said that his policy on the AfD was clear: “We do not work with this party. We will not enter into a government with them.”
