Merz and his party attempted last week to push a series of tough measures on asylum seekers through parliament last week with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a taboo-breaking gambit undermining the country’s “firewall” against the extreme right. They failed, but Merz is now doubling down, arguing the episode merely exposed where the parties stand on the key issue of migration.
“When should such a clarification take place, if not three weeks before a federal election?” Merz told a reporter during a weekend campaign stop in his home state of Sauerland in western Germany. “Now there is clarity,” he said. “Things couldn’t be better.”
Ultimately, however, it’s the far right that may benefit most.
‘Gates of hell’
As an anti-immigration tempest propels the far right across Europe, the will of conservatives to quarantine radical-right parties is weakening everywhere from Austria to the Netherlands. Merz is betting Germany is not an outlier, despite its dark history, and that his conservatives will not fight the prevailing winds even if that means standing side by side with the far right on tough migration measures.
But many Germans seem to feel differently, judging from their outrage at Merz’s bid, for the first time in Germany’s postwar history, to pass a non-binding motion with far-right support that called for asylum seekers to be rejected at the country’s borders. On Friday, Merz’s conservatives tried again, but this time failed to pass an immigration bill despite near-unanimous AfD support — a humiliating defeat for the election frontrunner.
In response to Merz’s tactics, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out in cities across the country over the weekend to protest the weakening of the firewall. “Merz can no longer be trusted,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz; Robert Habeck, the chancellor candidate for the Greens, called Merz’s change of tack on the firewall “a disqualification” for the office of chancellor.
