Friedrich Merz is causing a heated debate with his statements about asylum seekers. There are accusations of populism coming from the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party – but there is agreement from within their own ranks.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz has triggered sharp criticism and renewed discussion about his choice of words with harsh statements about rejected asylum seekers who, in his words, are having their teeth “re-done” in Germany. The SPD, the Greens and the Left Party accused him of populism and demanded an apology. He initially received support from party friends on Thursday.
Merz said on Wednesday in the “Welt-Talk” on the Welt channel, which was about migrants: “They go crazy, the people, when they see that 300,000 asylum seekers have been rejected, they don’t leave, they get the full benefits “They get full medical care. They sit at the doctor and have their teeth remade, and the German citizens next door don’t get any appointments.”
Ramelow to Friedrich Merz: “The AfD is hitting itself on the thighs”
Thuringia’s left-wing Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow has accused the Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) of doing the AfD’s business with his statements about the dental treatment of rejected asylum seekers. “The AfD is kicking itself, feels confirmed and even supported by the confirmation of its clichés,” he told the editorial network Germany. Anyone who “serves resentment distracts from the actual problems of medical care,” he added, referring to the growing concentration of medical practices in the hands of large companies.
The Greens and SPD also reacted outraged.
Green Party leader Ricarda Lang accused the CDU leader of “deliberately” playing groups off against each other and spreading false information in the process. “This doesn’t solve a single problem, but it fuels hatred,” . That is “unworthy of the chairman of a people’s party”.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, the SPD’s top candidate for the Hesse election in a week and a half, wrote: “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.” : Asylum seekers would only be treated if they were acutely ill or suffering from pain.
In fact, asylum seekers – including those tolerated whose application was rejected – only receive acute medical care for the first 18 months, but then have almost full access to the health system.
Support for the CDU boss in his own ranks
In the Union, Merz received more support. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) explained that Merz only wanted to draw attention to the general burden on the state, society and social systems caused by the sharp increase in irregular migration. Others, like Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU), remained silent.
The former chairman of the CDU Basic Values Commission, the historian Andreas Rödder, agreed with Merz. What the party leader is talking about is “the toxic combination from which our country is suffering: the excessive demands caused by uncontrolled migration plus the growing deficits in our infrastructure. In this respect, he is completely right,” Rödder told the newspaper “Welt”. “Friedrich Merz’s problem is not the excitement of the left, but (are) the snipers in his own party.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) – but without directly referring to Merz: “My clear goal is to find solutions that move our country forward – we can best achieve this together. Hot air and populism will only heat up the mood in the country.”
Source: Stern
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