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| Would-be Merkel successor questions post-Nazi era asylum guarantee | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Friedrich Merz, trailing in the race to succeed Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), has sparked uproar by questioning Germany’s constitutional guarantee of asylum. | Friedrich Merz, trailing in the race to succeed Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), has sparked uproar by questioning Germany’s constitutional guarantee of asylum. |
| Germany’s constitution, drafted to atone for Nazi crimes, guarantees asylum to all “politically persecuted” people but at a hustings late on Wednesday in the eastern state of Thuringia, where hostility to immigrants helped propel the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) to second place in last year’s national election, Merz said this might have to change. | Germany’s constitution, drafted to atone for Nazi crimes, guarantees asylum to all “politically persecuted” people but at a hustings late on Wednesday in the eastern state of Thuringia, where hostility to immigrants helped propel the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) to second place in last year’s national election, Merz said this might have to change. |
| “We must be prepared to discuss the constitutional right to asylum if we seriously want a European immigration and refugee policy,” he said, to applause from local party delegates. | “We must be prepared to discuss the constitutional right to asylum if we seriously want a European immigration and refugee policy,” he said, to applause from local party delegates. |
| He said that Germany’s constitutional guarantee was unique in the European Union, meaning it could be obliged to take refugees rejected under a common European asylum policy. | He said that Germany’s constitutional guarantee was unique in the European Union, meaning it could be obliged to take refugees rejected under a common European asylum policy. |
| Constitutional provisions granting asylum are indeed rare, but all other EU countries have equivalently strong legal commitments to guaranteeing asylum to the persecuted, including via international conventions that have constitutional force. | Constitutional provisions granting asylum are indeed rare, but all other EU countries have equivalently strong legal commitments to guaranteeing asylum to the persecuted, including via international conventions that have constitutional force. |
| His remarks were also an implied rebuke to Merkel, whose decision in 2015 to admit over a million Syrian war refugees upturned European politics and fuelled a far-right surge across the continent. | His remarks were also an implied rebuke to Merkel, whose decision in 2015 to admit over a million Syrian war refugees upturned European politics and fuelled a far-right surge across the continent. |
| Merz trails Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, dubbed the “mini-Merkel” for her similarities in policy and style, in polls of party members. The winner will be in pole position to lead the EU’s largest country and economic powerhouse. | Merz trails Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, dubbed the “mini-Merkel” for her similarities in policy and style, in polls of party members. The winner will be in pole position to lead the EU’s largest country and economic powerhouse. |
| But Merz drew fire from other CDU politicians, including the health minister, Jens Spahn, third-placed challenger and another critic of Merkel’s refugee policies. | But Merz drew fire from other CDU politicians, including the health minister, Jens Spahn, third-placed challenger and another critic of Merkel’s refugee policies. |
| “The constitutional right to asylum for political refugees is a great virtue of our constitution, created against the background of two world wars, great suffering and vast displacements,” wrote Spahn on Twitter. | “The constitutional right to asylum for political refugees is a great virtue of our constitution, created against the background of two world wars, great suffering and vast displacements,” wrote Spahn on Twitter. |
| Spahn himself drew applause from delegates with a populist attack on “excessive political correctness”, which left former East Germans who had grown up with censorship under communism “not knowing what they are allowed to say”. | Spahn himself drew applause from delegates with a populist attack on “excessive political correctness”, which left former East Germans who had grown up with censorship under communism “not knowing what they are allowed to say”. |
| The party will choose a successor to Merkel, who is stepping down after a string of regional election setbacks, at a congress in Hamburg in December. | The party will choose a successor to Merkel, who is stepping down after a string of regional election setbacks, at a congress in Hamburg in December. |
| Herbert Reul, CDU interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, was also critical of Merz’s remarks. | Herbert Reul, CDU interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, was also critical of Merz’s remarks. |
| “If he meant to question the right to asylum, then I think very little of it. We have the right to asylum in our constitution in Germany for a good reason, and that has to do with our history,” he said in a radio interview on Thursday. | “If he meant to question the right to asylum, then I think very little of it. We have the right to asylum in our constitution in Germany for a good reason, and that has to do with our history,” he said in a radio interview on Thursday. |
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