German chancellor hopeful Friedrich Merz has promised a swift crackdown on immigration if elected next month, responding to a stabbing attack in which two people were killed, including a two-year-old child.
In the attack on Wednesday a man entered a playground in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg and fatally stabbed the toddler, as well a 41-year-old passerby who tried to intervene. A 28-year-old man from Afghanistan, who had made a failed application for asylum, was arrested following the incident.
Additional passersby who intervened were seriously injured in the attack and are receiving medical treatment.
With his remarks Mr Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), signalled a radical shift away from a more open migration policy pursued by his party predecessor, Angela Merkel.
“We see before us the ruins of 10 years of misguided asylum and immigration policy in Germany, we are at the limit,” said Mr Merz, describing the attack as the latest example of “uninhibited brutality” in Germany.
In advance of next month’s general election, he promised new laws, on his first day in office, to end “all attempts at illegal entry without exception”, including those without passports and “those entitled to protection”.
This might breach European asylum rules, he conceded, but in this case Germany must “let national law take precedence”.
Wednesday’s attack presents a dilemma for all of Germany’s mainstream parties, in particular the CDU. Under Dr Merkel, Germany welcomed more than a million refugees during Europe’s 2015-16 migrant crisis.
In its last three years in opposition, meanwhile, three million further people have arrived.
Wednesday’s attack follows similar incidents reportedly involving asylum seekers and foreign nationals in Magdeburg, Mannheim, Solingen and other cities. Many were due to leave the country after failed asylum applications.
The latest attack has rattled many Germans, including a breakfast television host who began crying while reading attack details on air on Thursday. Was it safe for her as a mother, she asked a policeman on air, to take her children into a city park?
“I want to be honest with you; it’s best if you avoid such places,” said Manuel Ostermann, a police union spokesman. “That we are not safe and that people in Germany don’t dare go on to the street is a result of our politics. I am sick of people sitting here, crying and being afraid.”
The attack triggered a blame game among mainstream parties. Federal politicians suggested “something had gone wrong in Bavaria” given the suspect, had a history of violent behaviour, had been undergoing psychiatric treatment but was free to move about.
Bavaria’s ruling Christian Social Union (CSU) pushed back, claiming federal authorities had delayed the transfer of information to permit a quick deportation.
CSU leader and Bavarian state premier Markus Söder said his state’s hands were tied on deportations and demanded simplified rules for forced departures.
“The basic right of asylum must be revised in such a way that in the end Germany can decide for itself how many people we can integrate in the long term,” he said.
As Aschaffenburg locals gathered for a candlelit vigil at 6pm on Thursday, shock was mixed with annoyance at the political blame game.
Local man Axel Teuscher, head of civil alliance ‘Aschaffenburg is Colourful’, said he “couldn’t understand” why people linked the attack to migration policy.
“Migration policy is not the reason why a clearly sick person, with considerable criminal energy, committed this crime,” he said.
“I find it outrageous how things are being mixed together and instrumentalised.”
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has long called for tougher migration and deportation rules, called on Mr Merz to drop his party’s “firewall” against the far-right and work together on a new immigration regime.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
