Europe live: Olaf Scholz rejects call for overhaul of German border laws and defends right to asylum | World news

Scholz’s speech in Bundestag on migration – snap analysis

Kate Connolly

Berlin correspondent

Listing Aschaffenburg as the latest in a string of attacks by migrants – in Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg – Scholz said he understood the shock and consternation that people felt, as well as vexation over the fact that “once again”, the attack had been “carried out by someone who shouldn’t have been here,” a reference to the fact that in several cases, the perpetrators had been due to be deported, but this had not happened.

“I understand anyone who says: ‘I’ve had enough,’ said Scholz, adding: “I too am enraged”.

But he went on to say that all four of the attacks “could have been avoided” under existing laws which had been tightened under the Scholz government, if they had been properly and swiftly implemented by the authorities in the various states in which the attacks took place, all of which are governed by the CDU/CSU.

Scholz said under his government many more deportations had taken place, including a planeload of Afghans, convicted of crimes in Germany, stating that Germany was “the only country in Europe which has been able to deport criminals to Afghanistan. It’s damned hard to do with a Taliban government but we managed it.”

He urged Merz not to fall into the trap of depending on the AfD for support to push through his motions to tighten Germany’s migration policy, citing in particular a letter written by the leaders of Germany’s Protestant and Catholic churches, warning that the party was departing from the ‘Christian’ in its name by supporting the motions.

He also warned of developments in neighbouring Austria, where the conservatives there have, he said, broken pre-election promises not to work with the far-right FPÖ, the Austrian equivalent of the AfD, but was now on the verge of entering a coalition with it.

German debate on migration and border controls – explainer

Kate Connolly

What is happening in the Bundestag this afternoon?

The conservative CDU/CSU alliance, under the leadership of Friedrich Merz, who according to opinion polls is the favourite to become Germany’s chancellor following elections on February 23, has submitted two motions which, if passed, could result in a 180 degree switch in Germany’s migration policy, and could have a ripple effect across Europe.

The sense of urgency around the issues, which have been dominating the political landscape for some time, and reflect the wider debate across Europe, are due to events last week in the city of Aschaffenburg in which a two year old girl and a 41 year old man were murdered when an Afghan migrant lunged at them in a park with a kitchen knife. The 28 year old who is in police custody had been due for deportation. He had also been receiving help for a psychological condition.

The circumstances around the attack – and the fact that it is the latest in a series of attacks involving migrants who were known to authorities – have prompted accusations of state failure on many levels, with plenty of people in positions of authority insisting it could have been prevented.

The motions put forward by Merz call for the rejection of all illegal migrants and asylum seekers, wherever they have come from, on all of Germany’s nine borders with its neighbours. The motions would also seek to broaden the powers of the security authorities to ease the process of rejection and deportation.

Scholz’s SPD/Greens minority government has refused to back the proposals, saying that it too has a raft of reform proposals on which the CDU/CSU has refused to engage at all, despite Scholz’s appeal for cooperation so that they could be pushed through before the election.

It’s important to note that Merz’s proposals would not put the government of Olaf Scholz’s SPDs and Greens under obligation to act on them. But if the conservatives’ motions got majority support in the Bundestag it would greatly escalate tensions between the CDU and Scholz’s government and would give Merz the upper hand in terms of trying to push the motion into law, the process of which could start as early as Friday.

The real drama around today’s debate though is about who Merz will get support from. If as it has signalled, the far-right populist AfD lends him their support, opponents of the CDU/CSU leader say he will have effectively broken the so-called ‘firewall’ – on which he has said he will stake his political fate – the promise, along with other mainstream parties, that he will never work with the AfD.

A poll shows that 66% of Germans support Merz’s plan.

If his motion is successful, what then?

The CDU/CSU could get a wafer-thin majority with the help of the pro-business FDP, and the AfD, which said yesterday it was planning to vote in favour of the motions. The backing of the left-wing conservative BSW, which had not yet publicly made up its mind by this morning whether it would support Merz, would also be needed.

If he loses, this will be a humiliating defeat for Merz.

The Bundesrat or Upper House’s backing would be required to approve the law. The earliest date for a next sitting of that house would be 14 February, nine days ahead of the general election. However, they are not likely to approve it because the CDU/CSU does not have a majority there.

But, once the election has taken place on 23 February, the political landscape could look decidedly different.

The CDU/CSU would have effectively laid the ground for the law and would be potentially in a position to adopt the law with a new coalition partner. This is not unlikely to be the SPD, as a junior partner in a grand coalition.

In which case it is expected that in order to make it more palatable for the SPD, the law could be watered down in parts. Seeing as a large number of SPD voters are in general in favour of tightening the law, the SPD might find its hand is forced so that it too will end up supporting an asylum stop.

Scholz says that, particularly with Trump in the US, the European unity is more important than ever as he accuses the opposition that their proposals would break that solidarity between member states.

He says that the EU’s new common asylum system will help protect the external borders better.

But he warns that if the opposition’s proposals pass, “all of this would be at risk” a she says: “if we withdraw from the European rules, others will too.”

He then directly addressed the issue of the “firewall” that means isolating the far-right, says “there has always been a clear consensus among all democrats” on this issue.

He calls the opposition’s openness to pass the proposals with the AfD votes would be “an unforgivable mistake.”

He further warns by drawing comparisons between Germany and Austria, warning that when the firewall falls, it opens the way for far-right parties to join the government.

Scholz argues his government increased the number of deportations from Germany, and is working on more flights to Afghanistan, as well as Syria “as soon as the situation on the ground allows it.”

“We will deport criminals there too, according to law and order, as befits a constitutional state,” he says.

He goes on to stress the lengths his government went to protect the borders and toughen up immigration policies.

With some of our measures we have pushed the boundaries of what our constitution and the European treaties allow. This is especially true for the temporary border controls, which have to be re-established and extended every six months.

…

But it is clear that we cannot and must not go beyond the current law.

Directly attacking opposition proposals, he calls them “pseudo-solutions” that would harm Germany’s reputation in Europe and undermine the EU.

He says that the opposition proposals, if adopted, would violate the EU law, something that “no German chancellor would have ever done.”

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has defended the right to claim asylum in Germany, rejecting calls for a radical overhaul.

The right to asylum is an integral part of our legal and value system. We must not abandon it today.

Directly addressing the Aschaffenburg attack last week, he calls it “a heinous, monstrous crime,” and says that many citizens feel “deeply unsettled” by repeated cases “where the perpetrator abused our protection.”

“It was someone who should no longer be here or at least not be at large,” he adds.

But he says there is “an enforcement deficit” at the state level, and argued attacks “could have been prevented with the existing laws.”

German chancellor Scholz is speaking in the Bundestag now.

We will bring you the news lines here.

Steinmeier’s speech is followed by a moving and personal speech about his life by Holocaust survivor Roman Schwarzman.

But in the most political part of his speech, he desperately pled for more support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s aggression, and drew parallels between his experience of the 1940s and now, directly comparing Russian president Vladimir Putin to German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Here is what he said:

Since Russia started attacking our civilian populations, our cities, and our energy system on 24 February 2022, our lives and our freedoms have been in danger again.

Putin tries to exterminate us as a nation, as Hitler tried to exterminate the Jewish people during the second world war.

Back then, Hitler wanted to me because I am a Jew. Now Putin tries to kill me, because I am a Ukrainian.

On 29 December 2023, our house was hit by a rocket. Miraculously, I saved myself and my wife as we sheltered in the basement. But when we returned, we couldn’t recognise our flat. Everything was demolished.

Odessa, my town, suffers greatly from the Russian terror. I am seeing devastation and misery, again. I am seeing the faces of Ukrainian defenders who return after being held prisoners of war in Russia.

Their stories about the Russian occupiers, torture chambers, give me phantom pains.

…

I was in the ghetto, I saw the devil, and I say: we overestimate him, a lot. His power is only as great as we allow it to be.

As he repeats his calls for more arms for Ukraine, he warns:

People who believe that Putin will be satisfied with Ukraine are mistaken.

Towards the end his address to the Bundestag, Steinmeier recalls a speech by survivor Leon Weintraub, who urged global leaders attending the Auschwitz commemoration on Monday to “avoid the mistake of the 1930s when the world failed to take seriously the Nazi regime” and “take enemies of democracy seriously” (17:44, Monday).

He warned us on Monday, desperately so, he said: take the enemies of democracy seriously.

I reiterate it here and now in the German Bundestag: take the enemies of democracy seriously.

German president Steinmeier also speaks about his experience of attending the Auschwitz memorial event on Monday.

Steinmeier says:

It is not far from Berlin, our capital, where everything that happened there was thought up.

Standing there between the barracks means standing in front of a still unavoidable truth. Germans organised and committed these crimes against humanity. Germans opened up this inhuman abyss; they planned, measured and calculated it.

This place [Auschwitz] makes it clear to us that Shoah is a part of German history, whether we like it or not, it is part of our history, and so it is not possible to draw a line under our history … and our responsibility.

His words will be seen as a rebuke to US billionaire Elon Musk, who over the weekend made a surprise appearance during Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday.

Speaking there, he said “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents,” apparently referring to Germany’s Nazi past.

Steinmeier’s words get long applause from the audience.

The German parliament is now in sitting, with a ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. Survivor Roman Schwarzman and president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was in Auschwitz earlier this week, are expected to speak.

The immigration and asylum debate will follow later in the afternoon.

You will find the English-language stream at the top of this page.