The federal and state governments have agreed on new steps in migration policy. But the debate does not end there. Prime Minister Kretschmann and his party leader Lang speak out.
Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann has warned that the right to asylum will be undermined if irregular migration is not curbed. “You don’t need the right to asylum if everyone can come and stay as they want. We have to limit irregular migration, otherwise the right to asylum will be undermined,” said the Green politician to the “taz”.
The fact that the Greens in Hesse were thrown out of government should wake up his party. “The course in migration policy is crucial: let off the brakes when it comes to curbing irregular migration.”
The right to asylum should not be undermined, said Kretschmann. “Humanity can only exist in order. Asylum means: those who are persecuted can come here. But that also means: those who are not persecuted cannot come through the asylum law.” If the Green Youth now fears isolation, one can only ask: “Where do they live? We have just taken in a million Ukrainian refugees, Baden-Württemberg alone has taken in twice as many Ukrainian refugees as France. That is the opposite of isolation. “
If the state does nothing about the migration issue, the impression will arise that the state is incapable of acting. “This is the most dangerous message of all! It drives people to the right,” said Kretschmann.
Lang criticizes “outdoing competition” when it comes to demands
Meanwhile, Green Party leader Ricarda Lang criticizes an “outbidding competition” when making demands in the migration debate. “I would say that we should now focus the debate on what has the most benefit, especially for the municipalities that have to implement it locally – and not on what sounds the hardest,” she said on Deutschlandfunk.
“I think that we have sometimes experienced a shift within this debate, whereby what sounds the harshest is suddenly seen as the most realistic, even though it actually has nothing to do with reality,” she criticized. “One example of this is the upper limit debate that we have had for weeks now. I could name numerous others here.” The green course in migration policy consists of naming pseudo-solutions and going along with pragmatic solutions.
Lang rejected the accusation from the Union that the Greens were not willing to compromise enough. “I don’t think anyone has to explain to us as the Greens after these last two years that politics requires compromise, that democracy requires compromise,” she said. “We have made decisions in many places in recent years. I would like to recall the arms deliveries to Ukraine. I would like to recall the rapid expansion of the LNG terminals, where we jumped over our own shadow because reality made it necessary has.”
CDU leader Friedrich Merz said on Deutschlandfunk at the weekend: “The Greens must remain in touch with reality.” They would have to accept that they would have to make compromises. If they are not prepared to do so, the Union has other options. The background is the decision of the Hessian CDU to start negotiations about forming a government with the SPD instead of with its long-standing green coalition partner. For example, the Union is calling for the number of safe countries of origin to be significantly expanded, the family reunification of refugees to be limited and multiple asylum applications to be prevented.
Source: Stern
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