Germany has ‘hit the limit’ of the number of migrants it can take, its president warns – seven years after he called for ‘open borders’ and a million people entered the country

Germany has “reached the limit” of the number of immigrants the country can take, warned the country’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Steinmeier said the fact that a third of all migrants arriving in the EU in the first six months of this year passed through Germany first means the nation, “like Italy, is at the limit of its capabilities.”

His warning comes seven years after Steinmeier called for “open borders” in a move that saw one million people enter Germany in 2015 and 2016.

Steinmeier, who is on a three-day visit to Italy, has done an about-face, insisting there needs to be “tougher controls” at the borders and a “fair distribution” of migrants across Europe.

He said Germany now faces an “emergency situation” due to the large number of migrants traveling from Syria and Afghanistan to the country’s eastern border.

Germany has “reached the limit” of the number of immigrants the country can take, warned the country’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“In the first six months of this year, we had 162,000 asylum applications, a third of all those in the EU,” Steinmeier told the Italian newspaper. Corriere della Seraadding that this represents an increase of more than 75 percent compared to the same period last year.

‘In addition, there are currently more than a million refugees in our country. That is why Germany, like Italy, is at the limit of its capabilities.’

Steinmeier, who was accompanied by Italian President Sergio Mattarella during his visit, added: “We need fair distribution in Europe and stricter controls and surveillance at our external borders.”

According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 130,000 people have landed on Italian shores since the beginning of this year, compared to around 68,200 in the same period last year.

Some 8,500 migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa last week in just three days, as the number of people crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa increased.

Germany also faces “strong immigration,” Steinmeier said, calling for “humane and sustainable European solutions.”

“We have to make every effort to make the loads sustainable and reduce the number of arrivals,” he added. While German President Steinmeier has no policy-making power, his office has considerable influence.

It comes amid growing fears that foreign political conflicts are reaching Germany.

Over the weekend, an Eritrean cultural festival in Stuttgart descended into violent chaos when opposing mobs attacked each other and police with stones, bottles and wooden planks.

Clashes broke out between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government as about 200 protesters gathered outside the festival in the southwestern German city.

When violence broke out, dozens of people were injured, including at least 26 officers. One resident described the scene as “like a war.”

A smashed car was also seen plowing through warring groups during the police attack in Stuttgart over the weekend.

Clashes broke out between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government as about 200 protesters gathered outside the festival in the southwestern German city.

Footage circulating on social media showed the riots as attackers were seen running in groups and sparking massive street fights. A car with a smashed windscreen was also seen plowing through conflicting groups as police came under attack.

The weekend event in Stuttgart was reportedly organized by groups close to the totalitarian dictatorship of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

Six of the 26 injured police officers were treated at a hospital for their injuries, police said.

According to police, four event participants and two protesters were also injured, although no information was immediately available on the severity of their injuries.

“It was like a war here,” said one resident. image after fearing massive fights. ‘The men threw stones at the officers from a school yard near us. A police helicopter was on duty. It was so hectic. “I thought there would be gunshots soon,” they said.

Saturday’s protests were the latest in a series of unrest over Eritrean cultural events in Germany and elsewhere. In July, a clash at an Eritrean festival in the western German city of Giessen left 22 police officers injured.

It comes as Berlin revealed last week that it would stop accepting migrants living in Italy under a European solidarity plan.

The voluntary plan aims to ease pressure on EU border nations that are often the first port of call for migrants.

Germany said it could welcome migrants again if Italy resumed its obligations to receive refugees.

Under the EU’s Dublin procedure, irregular migrants must register in the EU country they first enter. If they are heading to another nation in the bloc, they can return to their first port of call in the EU.

Local governments have grown frustrated with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s federal government as they have had to foot the bill for the rising costs of providing housing, schools and services to growing numbers of immigrants.

In addition to the more than one million Ukrainians who arrived in Germany last year seeking refuge from Russia’s war against their country, the number of asylum seekers has also increased sharply. Ukrainians immediately receive refugee status in Germany and do not need to apply for asylum.

In 2022, more than 244,000 people applied for asylum in Germany, but this number has increased by 78 percent in the first six months of this year alone. Experts estimate that up to 300,000 migrants could apply for asylum in Germany this year.

Many of those who now arrive in Germany daily cross the Balkans and come from war-torn countries such as Syria or Afghanistan. They rely on smugglers to take them across borders so they can apply for asylum the moment they reach German soil.

Local communities have been housing asylum seekers in tents, shipping containers, gyms or former airports for months as regular housing becomes scarce. In addition, they say that there is also a lack of daycare and school spaces for immigrant children. They demand billions in additional federal funds to cover their costs.

The national government, however, rejects their demands, saying it spent 28 billion euros (£24 billion) on migration last year alone. Around €15 billion was provided to states and local authorities, while more than €12 billion was invested to combat the causes of flight abroad.