The Union’s demand for migrants to be turned away at the German borders is causing discord among the traffic light parties. Green politician Erik Marquardt called for more presence from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the debate. “He has to be careful not to give the impression that he is sitting in Friedrich Merz’s secretariat. I would like to see leadership there,” the MEP told the newspapers of the Funke media group. FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai, on the other hand, accused the Greens of a “refusal attitude” in migration policy.

On Tuesday, the federal government, the CDU as the largest opposition force and the federal states discussed migration and internal security. CDU leader Merz said afterwards that the CDU 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 set a deadline of next Tuesday for a “binding statement” from the federal government.

On Thursday, however, he did not repeat this ultimatum: “We do not need any more long discussions here. And that is why I have made a request, namely that we decide quickly now,” said Merz at the start of a closed meeting of the Union parliamentary group leadership.

Greens: No wall to be built around Germany

Marquardt said that Poland is doing exactly what Merz wants to do at the German-Polish border on the Belarusian border. “It just doesn’t lead to fewer people coming.” Migration policy needs to be discussed much more at a European level. Green Party leader Ricarda Lang told Politico that Merz’s “unserious behavior” shows that he is not interested in serious solutions.

Green Party politician Luise Amtsberg expressed similar views. “Illegal demands are not a constructive contribution to the debate,” the Federal Government’s human rights commissioner told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Meanwhile, the Green Youth demanded that talks with the Union be broken off: “Based on the statements made so far, we see no reason to continue these talks,” said the youth organization’s co-spokesperson, Katharina Stolla, to the news portal ZDFheute.de. It was clear from the start that the Union only wanted to push the traffic light coalition further to the right.

Lindner: Concerned about statements by the Greens

FDP General Secretary Djir-Sarai sharply criticized the Greens: “The Greens should ask themselves whether they are still capable of facing the country’s central challenges as a governing party,” he told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.

Party leader Christian Lindner expressed concern about the coalition partner’s stance. “I regret that the Greens have already publicly spoken out against rejection at the German borders, even though there are ongoing talks. That is not helpful for the talks that the government is having with the states and the CDU opposition,” he told ARD.

Lindner criticized the CDU leader’s announcement on Welt TV. “I would like to see a little more humility when it comes to Friedrich Merz’s ultimatums. After all, there are also enforcement deficits in CDU-led states such as North Rhine-Westphalia.”

Survey: Majority wants different asylum policy

According to a survey, three out of four respondents (77 percent) believe that a fundamentally different asylum and refugee policy is necessary to limit migration to Germany. According to the latest ARD Deutschlandtrend, 18 percent find such a change unnecessary.

The greatest support for serious changes in refugee policy comes from supporters of the AfD (97 percent), the BSW (91 percent) and the CDU/CSU (86 percent). But even among SPD supporters, according to the representative survey by infratest dimap, a clear majority of 65 percent are in favor of significant changes in asylum and refugee policy. The Green Party’s supporters are divided on this issue: 48 percent agreed, 46 percent did not.

The survey also showed that the issues of immigration and flight have continued to rise in the perception of problems among Germans. Around one in two (48 percent) named this complex as one of the two most important political problems that politicians must address. That is 22 percentage points more than in April. This is followed by the issue of the economy (20 percent, compared to 19 in April).

After the suspected Islamist-motivated knife attack in Solingen at the end of August that left three people dead, 73 percent are in favor of introducing permanent controls at German borders. Almost as many (72 percent) are in favor of giving the security authorities more powers. An even larger proportion (82 percent) believe that expanding prevention and education about radical Islamism, for example in schools and refugee facilities, would be useful.

For the survey, 1,309 eligible voters aged 18 and over were interviewed from Tuesday to Wednesday of this week.