Europe live: German parliament to hear proposals on asylum law change after Aschaffenburg killings
Europe live: German parliament to hear proposals on asylum law change after Aschaffenburg killings
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Friedrich Merz, favourite to become the next German chancellor, will bring proposals to radically change asylum and immigration laws before parliament today, even if they end up being passed with the support of Alternative für Deutschland. As our Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, explains, Merz has been accused of shifting his position on the country’s “firewall” against the far-right party with the proposed law change, which would aim to dramatically increase the number of deportations.
![[Tens of thousands of protesters around the Brandenburg Gate for a “light demonstration” against the rise of the far-right in the country and in Europe last weekend.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/00238ddfe25ebe97a9ddaecd74e45fcc86392c55/0_140_5048_3029/master/5048.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The proposals include effectively closing German land borders to irregular migration and allowing the federal police to request arrest warrants for people who do not have the legal right to remain in Germany. Critics say the proposals could break European law.
![[Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party leader Friedrich Merz speaking a press conference in Berlin on Monday.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8a1daed4d787ba30cd1aa40342f0e8aaf32627da/0_393_5900_3540/master/5900.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The policy shift follows an attack in Aschaffenburg last week in which a two-year-old child and a 41-year-old man were stabbed to death by an asylum seeker from Afghanistan who had been scheduled for deportation. Chancellor Scholz will speak about the attack today, too.
![[Flags of Greenland are pictured during a New Year's Reception at the Greenlandic Representation in Copenhagen earlier this month.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b0fae8b293c1ac86a33262802d161752236bd336/0_282_8467_5081/master/8467.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
On Tuesday night, the German Catholic and Protestant churches warned against Merz’s plan, saying in a letter seen by Reuters that “the timing and the tone of the debate appear deeply strange to us,” and worrying that the move could “defame all migrants living in Germany, stir up prejudices, and does not contribute to solving the real issues.”.
![[Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić speaks to press after an extraordinary government meeting following prime minister Miloš Vučević’s resignation.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ac64adbc36e7909f69f743c01d0af2abbefd32ce/508_754_3923_2353/master/3923.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
