Bundestag approves crackdown on migrants, AfD’s decisive vote raises concerns month before elections
The Bundestag has approved the bill presented from the leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), Friedrich Merz, and aimed at tightening Germany's migration policy, Agenzia Nova reports.

The bill provides for the possibility of direct rejections at the German borders, the unlimited detention of illegal immigrants in the event of impossibility of repatriation and the expansion and strengthening of the powers of the authorities. The bill was voted on by roll call and approved thanks to the decisive votes of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The members of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) abstained while the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party (Die Linke) voted against. To enter into force, the text must now be approved by the majority of the Federal Council (Bundesrat).
The debate in the Bundestag took place in a heated atmosphere and after days of heavy accusations against Merz, above all for his openness towards the AfD less than a month before the elections of 23 February.
Following the approval, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Konrad Adenauer Haus, the headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in central Berlin. According to Berlin police, about 2,000 people have gathered so far, but the number is expected to grow.
The CDU candidate for chancellor had previously declared that he would accept the AfD’s votes to obtain a majority in the Bundestag and pass the bill before the early federal elections. Merz’s statements have in fact partially demolished the so-called “Brandmauer”, the “wall of fire” that the parliamentary political forces have erected against any type of collaboration with the AfD, considered since its foundation a political pariah for its populist and xenophobic positions.
“Accepting the support of those who fight against our democracy, who despise our united Europe, who have continued to poison the climate in our country for years is a serious and unforgivable mistake,” declared the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, during his speech in the Bundestag.
The collaboration between the CDU and the AfD has also worried the federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Despite having to maintain the impartiality that his office requires, during his speech to Parliament on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance Steinmeier called on the deputies to take "the enemies of democracy seriously" and stressed that "those who ridicule, despise and attack our democracy today are also paving the way for hatred, violence and misanthropy". Steinmeier never directly named the AfD during his speech, but the implicit reference to the far-right faction was nevertheless clear.
A second aspect that has attracted a lot of criticism for Merz is the fact that the bill to tighten migration policy, which will effectively seal off Germany's borders, was conceived without being discussed with other member states of the European Union, especially those bordering Germany.
"Europe can only move forward united. The fact that Merz offends our neighbors at a time when the EU should instead remain united is causing enormous damage to Germany. I appeal to the common sense of the CDU to keep its word and support European solutions on the path of democratic compromise, instead of voting with the right-wing extremists of the AfD," said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Criticism of Merz's actions has not only come from German politicians but also from neighboring Austria, one of the nations that, more than others, will have to deal with the problems arising from direct rejections at the borders. Austria's acting Chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, reminded Merz that the rules of the European Union "must be respected" and that "if each member state were to raise drawbridges individually, then no one would be safe anymore."
For his part, Merz continued to defend his plans in front of the Bundestag deputies.
“My proposals for a change of direction in migration policy are completely compatible with European law. If the SPD and the Greens do not approve our bill, they will demonstrate that they have no interest in changing the situation in Germany,” Merz said during the parliamentary debate.
The CDU leader said he was “extremely uncomfortable with the idea of having to rely on the AfD” and effectively accused the SPD and the Greens of “forcing” him into it.
It remains to be seen what impact the approval of Merz's proposed crackdown on migrants will have on the February 23 elections. According to some German media, Merz's initiative was not so much dictated by a desire to open up to a possible post-election alliance with AfD, but by the desire to gather the votes of undecided voters, who after the attack in Magdeburg and the stabbing in Aschaffenburg - both perpetrated by immigrants - would like Germany to adopt a tougher immigration policy but would never vote for a far-right party like AfD.
The fact remains that the result obtained today could also turn into a double-edged sword for the CDU's candidate for chancellor. The party's more moderate voters, in fact, could see in this temporary alliance of convenience between CDU and AfD a concrete risk for the birth of a coalition between the two political forces after the elections - and this despite Merz's reassurances to the contrary - and, consequently, a serious danger for the democratic order of Germany.
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