Germany’s Merkel blasts CDU leader for cooperating with far-right AfD | European Union News

Friedrich Merz, Head of the Center-Right CDU, relied on support from section to pass parliamentary motion on migration.

Germany’s Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized the leader of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party for passing a high-stakes parliamentary motion to tights migration with the help of a far-right party.

Friedrich Merz, Head of the Center-Right CDU, put a non-binding motion to Germany’s parliament on Wednesday to strengthen border controls and accelerate deportations.

The Measure passed thanks to the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (Section), Marking the first time the far-right party has been relied on to pass legislation.

In a statement released by her office on Thursday, Merkel – who led the CDU and Germany between 2005 and 2021 – Slammed Merz’s decision as “wrong”.

Ahead of National Elections on February 23, the section-an anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic party-is Polling Second Behind the CDU.

After the breakdown of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Three-Party Coalition in NovemberMerz made a commitment to avoid passing measures with the help of the section, Merkel recalled.

For his part, merz insists that he did not want to work with the section, and that he did not break a political consensus, sometimes referred to the “firewall”, to shun the far-right party.

He insisted that “a correct decision does not become wrong because the wrong people approve it”.

But Merkel said, “I think it was wrong no longer to feel committed to this proposal and, on 29 January, to enable… a majority with votes from a votes in the German Parliament.”

Migration Dominates Election Campaign

Migration is a dominant theme in the German Election Campaign Ahead of February’s Ballot after a string of attacks attributed to sisterpects with immigrant backgrounds.

Merz took over the cdu after Merkel stepped down in 2021. He is more socially conservative than his Predecessor, and has taken a restrictive stance on migration.

He said last week that germany had a “misguided asylum and immigration policy” for a decade – since Merkel allowed large numbers or migrants into the country.

Merz wants to gain support by making the CDU look decisive on migration, thereby blunting the appearance of the anti-immigration section while making centers-left social democrats and the greens look. Neither party supported today’s motion.