“Western democracies” are in danger unless tougher asylum reforms are implemented in Europe, Germany’s former top judge has warned. Hans-Jurgen Papier said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had now gone too far, and its asylum rulings “settle like mildew over the states’ political power to take action”. The constitutional expert added that “uncontrolled and unconditional immigration” was harming public faith in politics.
Mr Papier’s comments come as the mainstream view on immigration has shifted, with many Brits and Europeans taking to the streets in frustration over their countries’ asylum systems. He believes the asylum rulings from both national courts and the ECHR are threatening the “existence of western democracies” unless reform swiftly takes place.
“The prospect that those in positions of political responsibility in Europe could change this system and adapt it to the fundamental changes in our social, political and cultural conditions seems ever more difficult and ever more hopeless to many people,” Mr Papier, once the most senior judge in Germany, told The Times.
He added that the courts’ handling of asylum is “generally destroying the European citizen’s trust in the capacity of their democratic institutions to act, and so at the end of the day endangering the existence of western democracies”.
Germany is currently leading the way in toughening its migration measures. After years of sky-high entries to the country, the number of asylum applications filed between January and July 2025 fell by 50% compared to the same time period of last year – standing at 70,000.
While previous German governments had a softer approach to the issue, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s hard-line stance has cut asylum seeker numbers down drastically.
Tougher border control has also seen illegal migration fall to 22,170 entries so far in 2025, significantly down from 83,572 in the same period in 2024 and 127,549 in 2023, Die Welt reports.
The country’s tougher position has been welcomed by Brussels, as EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner explains it now “makes progress faster”.
“We want to make it clear that Germany is no longer in the brakeman’s cab when it comes to migration issues in Europe but is part of the driving force,” the country’s Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, added.