The CDU/CSU parliamentary group will submit a series of proposals on migration and refugee policy to the Bundestag next week, acknowledging that the motions could pass with support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as the parties react to the latest fatal attack by a foreigner in Aschaffenburg.
The decision, confirmed by CDU officials to the Berliner Zeitung, represents a significant departure from the party’s long-standing refusal to cooperate with the right-wing party that is currently its stiffest competition in next month’s federal elections.
“Friedrich Merz and the CDU/CSU parliamentary group will submit some very clear proposals on migration and refugee policy to the Bundestag,” the internal memo read. “If there is a vote on these motions… we will go to the vote regardless of who supports these motions. This also applies if only the AfD supports our applications.”
The CDU’s five-point migration plan, as outlined by its candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz, included permanent border controls with all neighboring countries and the immediate rejection of illegal migrants; the establishment of national entry centers to speed up asylum procedures; regular deportations and targeted diplomatic pressure on countries refusing to receive repatriated citizens; and the introduction of arrest warrants for those entering the country illegally.
The party also wants to introduce stronger oversight of mentally ill asylum seekers, including forced medical supervision.
While the party has U-turned on welcoming AfD support in the Bundestag, it has insisted that it will not support any further proposals tabled by the right-wing group.
“We want to submit all the necessary motions ourselves and seek support for them and will therefore not come into the debate of having to support motions from other groups,” the memo added.
The move was initiated in the aftermath of the latest attack by a foreigner on German citizens. In Aschaffenburg on Wednesday, a failed Afghan asylum seeker was arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death a 2-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man in a targeted attack against a group of kindergarten children.
AfD leader Alice Weidel sent an open letter to Merz urging him to take immediate action.
“The citizens of this country have no understanding why the overdue migration turnaround and the necessary steps to restore internal security should be delayed for weeks and months until after the Bundestag election,” she wrote.
Weidel directly appealed to Merz, stating: “I, therefore, appeal to you in state political responsibility: Let us take the necessary decisions without further hesitation to implement what the citizens rightly expect from politics.”
At the time, the CDU swiftly rejected her offer. Thorsten Frei, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group’s managing director, told Reuters, “The Union will fundamentally re-host migration policy and drastically reduce illegal immigration. This does not require the poisoned offers of the AfD.”
Weidel hit back at Frei’s remarks, claiming the CDU was failing in its “state political responsibility” and refusal to cooperate with her party was “an admission of bankruptcy.”
However, the internal CDU letter now suggests a strategic shift, with the party leadership no longer explicitly rejecting AfD votes on their proposals.
The CDU/CSU currently holds 196 seats in the Bundestag, while the AfD has 76 seats. Even if both parties vote together, their combined 272 votes fall 95 votes short of a majority in the 733-seat Bundestag.
To pass their proposals, the CDU would need support from the FDP (90 seats) who recently left the government, and possibly independent MPs.
The CDU/CSU, the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel generally accepted to have opened the door to mass immigration into Germany in 2015, is now claiming it will reverse such liberal migration policies.
“If I am elected as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, on the first day of my term in office, I will instruct the Federal Ministry of the Interior, using the Federal Chancellor’s directive authority, to permanently control the German state borders with all of our neighbors and to reject all attempts at illegal entry without exception,” Merz said on Thursday.
„In diesen Minuten, wo wir uns hier treffen, meine Damen und Herren, laufen in Deutschland Täter wie die von gestern frei herum. Diesen Zustand werden wir beenden. Die Menschen in Deutschland müssen sich wieder sicher fühlen.“ ™ #Aschaffenburg pic.twitter.com/J7CVF0i5KM
— Friedrich Merz (@_FriedrichMerz) January 23, 2025“There will be a de facto entry ban into the Federal Republic of Germany for everyone who does not have valid entry documents or who makes use of European freedom of movement,” he added.
The AfD, however, argues that this is election posturing and the CDU is moving to the right in an attempt to mitigate the wave of support currently flowing towards her populist party.
