Olaf Scholz avoids migration policy in his government statement

Neue Zürcher Zeitung Germany Olaf Scholz avoids migration policy in his government statement Article by Oliver Maksan, Berlin • 19 hours • 3 minutes reading time At the meeting of EU heads of state and government in Brussels starting Thursday, the common asylum policy is once again at the top of the agenda. The announcement by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk shortly before the start of the European Council that he would suspend the right to asylum has made the long-running issue of irregular migration even more explosive. It is clear that the asylum reform passed by the European Parliament in April does not go far enough for many member states. In a letter to the EU member states this week, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also showed herself open to new approaches to asylum procedures outside the EU. She specifically referred to the agreement between Italy and Albania, on the basis of which the first asylum seekers from Italy were transferred to the third country this week. The CDU leader accuses Scholz of silence While there is lively debate at the EU level, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not mention the issue of asylum in the German Bundestag this Wednesday. Instead, in his government statement before leaving for Brussels, he concentrated exclusively on issues that are also on the EU agenda, such as support for Ukraine or the competitiveness of the EU. In his response, opposition leader Friedrich Merz immediately took issue with the Chancellor's silence on the asylum issue. He said he had not said a single word about it, although it was at the top of the agenda at the European Council in Brussels. Merz suspected that the Chancellor's hands were simply tied. "You are going to Brussels with a coalition at home that is not even able to make baby steps forward on migration policy," said the head of the CDU and CSU parliamentary group. Scholz is said to have threatened the SPD parliamentary group with a vote of confidence In fact, the head of government's consideration for his coalition government may have been the decisive factor in his silence on asylum policy. According to press reports, a conflict arose the day before at a meeting of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Even parts of his own party do not seem to want to support the Chancellor's migration policy plans. Scholz then indirectly linked the so-called security package to the vote of confidence. This is a package of measures that is to be passed by the Bundestag this Friday in the wake of the jihadist attack in Solingen by an asylum seeker. Among other things, it provides for tightening gun laws and cuts in benefits for asylum seekers who are required to leave the country. However, several SPD MPs believe the measures go too far. They criticize a conflation of security and migration policy. In the test vote on Tuesday, around twenty to thirty MPs are said to have refused to follow suit. The Chancellor is said to have threatened to call a vote of confidence on Friday if the package failed. However, the SPD denied this on Wednesday. The CDU and CSU criticize the coalition's security package as not being extensive enough. They therefore wanted to submit their own draft to the Bundestag for a vote on Friday. Among other things, this provides for the general rejection of asylum seekers at the German borders. However, the parliamentary majority prevented this on Wednesday. CDU MP Christoph de Vries blamed the FDP for this. The Union's draft was prevented from being presented so that the liberal MPs would not have to show their true colors. In fact, the FDP had called for much more far-reaching measures. However, it was unable to prevail over the SPD and the Greens. Given this disagreement within the coalition and within his own party, the Chancellor's silence is not surprising.