CDU leader Friedrich Merz accuses refugees of exploiting the German health system. A year ago, an AfD man spoke almost word for word about Ukrainians.
“They sit at the doctor’s and have their teeth remade, and the German citizens next door can’t get any appointments. What you’re doing here is a catastrophe for this country.” CDU chairman Friedrich Merz has spoken out in the refugee debate with drastic comparisons and called on the federal government to curb irregular migration. “The population will go crazy, the people, when they see that 300,000 asylum seekers have been rejected, are not allowed to leave the country, are getting full benefits, are getting full medical care,” he said in the “Welt-Talk” on the Welt television station.
Merz: “We have to talk about the pull factors”
He addressed his statements to the chairmen of the SPD and the Greens, Lars Klingbeil and Omid Nouripour, who were also in the world studio. The governing parties are currently discussing whether and how they should agree to the EU asylum reform. The Greens in particular have a stomach ache with this. Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently spoke out and demanded that his ministers not stand in the way of an agreement.
Friedrich Merz further criticized: “We have to talk about the pull factors (ed.) here in Germany. They exist, and massively, so that people come here in large numbers,” he said CDU boss.
Polenz: “Merz confirms stupid prejudices”
Green Party leader Ricarda Lang immediately objected. “Friedrich Merz is deliberately playing groups off against each other, spreading false information. Not a single problem is solved in this way, but hatred is stirred up. That is unworthy of the chairman of a people’s party,” she wrote on the .
He made a similar statement there: “Of course, acute illnesses and pain conditions also have to be treated in asylum seekers. Instead of explaining this, Merz confirms stupid prejudices. I think that’s bad.” Interior Minister also said: “This is pathetic populism on the backs of the weakest. Anyone who speaks like that is playing people off against each other and only strengthening the AfD.”
Role model AfD man secures?
In response to the populist statement, an excerpt from a speech by AfD member of the Bundestag Martin Sichert quickly made the rounds on social media. Almost exactly a year ago, he spoke of “Ukrainian luxury cars that would stand in front of the dentist’s offices” where “Ukrainians had their teeth fixed at the expense of German contributors”, while many Germans no longer knew how to do it themselves given the increased cost of living “finance their basic foodstuffs”.
Sources: DPA, X formerly Twitter
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
