Comment on the migration law: It was worth the risk

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Comment on the migration law: It was worth the risk 1 hour • 2 minutes reading time It was good that at the last minute an attempt was made to find a bridge between the CDU/CSU, FDP, SPD and Greens to prevent the AfD from helping the Union faction gain a majority for an "influx limitation law". The FDP faction gave the impetus for this by suggesting that the bill be referred back to the Interior Committee. In other words, frozen. This was in vain. There was no reasonable reason for the Union faction to back down now. Because the ball was in the SPD's court: it cannot give an objective reason why it should not agree to the bill. At its core, it is about the word "limitation", which is to be reinstated in a law that was once passed by the CDU/CSU and SPD. But the traffic light coalition, or rather the Greens, did not think the word fit into their philosophy of migration. The SPD had already supported other things too Other things had already been included in the draft (with SPD participation), such as the suspension of family reunification, or it was more pragmatic, such as a larger radius of action for the federal police. Why the SPD does not agree to this is incomprehensible. The only argument that the Union was making common cause with the AfD would have gone down the drain. But that is precisely what the SPD and the Greens were concerned about from the start - the "gate to hell", as Rolf Mützenich called it in almost grotesque exaggeration. It should give both factions pause for thought that the mood among the population is completely different to what the "spontaneous" protests in front of the CDU and CSU party headquarters would like to suggest. The vast majority are in favor of limiting, of a moratorium on asylum migration. It is not Merz's volte-face that makes this wish the AfD's concern, but the refusal that the red-green coalition insisted on on Friday. It was the last chance to defuse the conflict. Despite the defeat in the vote, Merz can say: It was worth the risk. Because the always-invoked political center can afford as much absurd theater as it wants, but not to ultimately ignore a large majority of voters.