German leader Friedrich Merz has doubled down on controversial comments on crime and immigration which have sparked criticism from among his own party. Asked about the anti-migration policies of the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Mr Merz said his government is working to correct previous failures, adding that there was a problem in his country’s “cityscapes”.
His comment has been seen widely as a bid to link crime to the changing ethnic make up of cities in Germany. When a reporter asked the German Chancellor what he meant by his comment, Mr Merz replied: “Ask your daughters, if you have them.”
Mr Merz’s response drew further criticism from opposition politicians, including Greens leader, Katharina Droege. She said either Mr Merz was too vain to say sorry for the remark or he had meant it.
Critics accuse the German leader of seizing on a claim spread by the far right which attempts to smear migrants as a danger to white women.
Tim Kluessendorf, General Secretary of Mr Merz’s coalition partner, the Social Democrats, accused him of “destroying trust”. Mr Kluessendorf is reported by Reuters as saying he expected more from a head of government.
Mr Merz was elected leader in May after pledging to see off the challenge from the AfD in part by taking a harder line on immigration.
Polls since the AfD finished second in Germany’s national election in February show its support continues to grow, with some putting it level with or even ahead of Merz’s Union bloc.
Meanwhile, Mr Merz’s nearly six month old governing coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats has annoyed many voters with public spats over a number of issues.
A 2018 convention of Mr Merz’s Christian Democratic Union rejected any “coalitions and similar forms of cooperation” with the AfD, as well as with the Left Party at the other end of the political spectrum.
Last week, a few conservatives — including Peter Tauber, a former CDU general secretary, and former Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg — argued for a more relaxed approach to the AfD.
Mr Tauber suggested a “new policy of red lines” that clearly allow the CDU to make decisions which would gain the far-right party’s support.
The AfD has called repeatedly for the CDU to dismantle what is widely known as the “firewall” against working with the far right. But Mr Merz has said its “outstretched hand is, in reality, a hand that wants to destroy” his party.
