- Friedrich Merz says Germany should imitate British policy in Rwanda
- He said it would be a sign that the nation “is not going to accept everyone here.”
- Merz also admitted that the EU should have done more to prevent Brexit.
Germany should copy Britain’s Rwanda policy to deter asylum seekers from Europe, the current leader of Angela Merkel’s CDU party has said.
Friedrich Merz, who has led the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2022, said he was “firmly convinced” the controversial policy would work, adding that Germany should “emulate” it as it would be “a sign that Simply “We are not going to accept everyone here.”
He told the Financial Times: “The mere prospect that you will not end up in the promised land of Germany and that you will have to apply for asylum in a third country – say Albania, if you are trying to enter Italy, or Rwanda if your goal is the Kingdom United, will reduce the number of asylum seekers.
In another sign of deference to the UK, Merz also admitted that Brussels and Berlin were partly to blame for Brexit, as they did not offer David Cameron, then UK Prime Minister, any significant reforms to the EU in the run-up to Brexit. the 2016 summit. referendum.
‘I remember David Cameron calling for changes to EU social policy and returning to London empty-handed.
Friedrich Merz (pictured) heads the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2022
“Continental Europeans were not completely blameless when it came to Brexit,” he said, adding:
‘We lost patience with the special role Britain always played in European politics. “We didn’t do enough to help them reach a different result in the referendum.”
Despite recent friction, Merz said he was keen for the UK and Germany to forge a closer relationship.
‘We have a plethora of opportunities, at least in foreign and defense policy, that we should explore together.
“We Germans have a huge strategic interest in keeping the UK closely involved in Europe.”
Merz’s party has maintained a comfortable lead in the polls since at least August 2022.
The Rwanda policy becomes one of the signature policies of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Border Force Defender escorts 50 migrants to Dover docks, Kent
Although there was a small increase in the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing party, support for the populists has been falling since January 2024.
Aggregate data from Politico polls shows that the CDU is currently 12 points ahead of the AfD.
The CDU is set to endorse a new party program soon, the first time it has done so since 2007.
‘We are once again a conservative party. The CDU was always social-Christian, liberal and conservative at the same time. But lately we have hidden, rather shamefully, the conservative part. Now we say it out loud.’
Despite this, he rejected his critics’ idea that he was moving away from Angela Merkel’s well-known centrist stance, stating that the new program was “a commitment to the basic values and principles that sustained us for more than 50 years of governing.” post-war Germany.