German opposition leader wants ‘comprehensive’ rejection of illegal migrants at borders

Friedrich Merz, the head of the Christian Democratic Union, will meet government for more talks on toughening policies

Germany’s opposition leader has demanded “comprehensive” rejections of illegal migrants at the country’s borders.
Friedrich Merz, the head of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union party, will meet the government on Tuesday for discussions on drastically toughening immigration policies, building on a similar summit last week.
The meetings have been called as Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor, scrambles to appear tougher on migration in response to the Solingen knife attack last month, in which a Syrian asylum seeker murdered three people at a music festival.
Mr Merz is heaping pressure on Mr Scholz’s coalition to announce stricter border control and migration laws. Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, he called for the “rejection of people at the German external borders on a comprehensive scale” if they do not have the correct paperwork.
His comments were echoed by the Christian Social Union, the CDU’s sister party in Bavaria, which demanded new border rules that would “fundamentally be about rejection at the border.”
On Monday, in an apparent bid to reassure voters and appease Mr Merz, the German government announced that it would impose additional checks at all land borders for six months, starting next Monday.
Germany is already carrying out extra border checks on its eastern frontiers with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, while additional checks with Austria have been in place since 2015.
Monday’s announcement will extend those checks to Germany’s western borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.
Germany is part of the EU’s open-border Schengen zone, where additional border checks are only permitted as a last resort for member states on national security grounds.
It came as a senior member of Germany’s Green faction, which is in coalition with Mr Scholz, accused Mr Merz of using migration as a tool to “blackmail” the government.
“Friedrich Merz is behaving like a stubborn child,” said Irene Mihalic, the manager of the Greens’ parliamentary faction, referring to earlier rumours that he may not attend Tuesday’s summit. “These blackmail attempts are just ridiculous.”
Bild, the country’s leading tabloid, welcomed Monday’s border announcement, describing it as a “victory for the majority of German citizens who have long been demanding stricter asylum rules”.
It added that the announcement was a political boost for Mr Merz, who is seeking victory in next year’s national elections, because he “forced the government into the asylum confrontation two weeks ago”.