Should migrants be turned back at the German border in the future? This demand from the Union has become the focus of the debate following the migration meeting.
The Union is insisting on a quick decision by the government on its demand to turn away migrants at the German borders. Politicians from the coalition party FDP are also advocating this. SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert rejected an ultimatum from CDU leader Friedrich Merz on the subject, but without commenting on the substance of the demand. And an SPD state minister made it clear that the SPD states could possibly go along with the issue.
The FDP is putting pressure on the third traffic light coalition partner, the Greens. “The Greens are wrong when they say that rejections at the border are not legally possible,” said party vice-chairman Wolfgang Kubicki to the “Rheinische Post”. “The Greens must not block this,” said FDP general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai to the “Bild”. “Anyone who blocks constructive solutions on this issue is endangering the country’s security and is ultimately not fit to govern.”
Merz demands “binding declaration” by Tuesday
On Tuesday, the traffic light coalition, the CDU/CSU as the largest opposition force and the federal states discussed migration and internal security. Merz said afterwards that the CDU/CSU and the federal states governed by the CDU and CSU only wanted to enter into further talks if migrants were turned back at the German borders. On Wednesday evening, he went further and set a deadline of next Tuesday for a “binding statement” from the federal government.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert criticized Merz on the ARD program “Maischberger” that he should “not give the impression that the Brandenburg state election, which is approaching in two weeks, is now leading him to take an unrealistic pace.” He was “not inclined and not willing to respond to this demand or, for that matter, provocation at this point.” The talks up to this point were “far too serious and too serious.”
At the meeting, the Union’s vision was also discussed – and it was not “condemned outright” but rather agreed to carry out checks. No one has an interest in “dragging this out now”.
The SPD interior minister of Lower Saxony, Daniela Behrens, is open to the suggestion of turning back certain migrants at the border. “My opinion is: If it is legally possible – and this must be examined very thoroughly – then we should do it,” she told the news portal “t-online”. “I think the SPD states can get behind this.” This could also be an important signal to the other EU countries so that the solidarity mechanism can take effect again.
Green Party interior politician Irene Mihalic had classified the rejection of asylum seekers at the border as not permissible under European law. Legal scholar Constantin Hruschka takes the same position: “Direct rejection of people who are applying for asylum or who have already applied for asylum in another European state is not permissible,” the professor at the Evangelical University in Freiburg told the editorial network Germany.
“The Dublin Regulation stipulates that asylum seekers may only be transferred to the country that is responsible for processing their asylum application,” he said. “They may therefore not simply be sent back to a neighboring country. And the return may only take place within a specified procedure.”
FDP party vice-chairman Wolfgang Kubicki, however, stressed that Paragraph 18 of the Asylum Act provides for rejections. “Since the Dublin Regulation does not make an explicit statement about whether rejections of asylum seekers at the internal borders are permissible, the relevant national regulation applies.” According to the Dublin rules, the country in which a migrant arrived in Europe is normally responsible for an asylum procedure.
Mützenich: “no bans on thinking”
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich told the German Press Agency that the aim was “together with the Union at federal and state level to come up with a legally secure overall migration package.” He added: “There are no restrictions on our thinking about this.” However, he did not go into more detail. He also announced that the SPD parliamentary group would discuss the security package decided by the traffic light government in the Bundestag for the first time next week.
In response to the knife attack in Solingen last week, the government agreed to tighten gun laws, expand the powers of the security authorities and take further measures to restrict illegal migration. The Federal Ministry of the Interior announced on Wednesday that it would present legal texts for implementation in the next few days.
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.
