German leader Merz vows to ban illegal immigrants at border after stabbings

The conservative opposition leader set to lead Germany after elections next month has promised far-reaching changes to border and asylum rules after a group of children were targeted in a deadly knife attack in Bavaria.

Friedrich Merz promised, in fact, to close Germany’s borders to all irregular migrants, including those entitled to protection.

A two-year-old boy of Moroccan origin and a 41-year-old man were killed in Wednesday’s attack in Aschaffenburg, and several other people were injured.

A 28-year-old Afghan man was due to appear in court on Thursday charged with murder and grievous harm.

Wednesday’s stabbing in Aschaffenburg is the latest in a series of violent and fatal attacks involving suspects who have sought asylum in Germany.

Within hours, the stabbings prompted a tougher tone from Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Merz, the center-right opposition leader.

Scholz promised quick action and called it an “act of terror,” although officials, so far, have not said they believe there was a terrorist motive.

Merz, whose Christian Democrats are leading opinion polls ahead of the Feb. 23 federal election, refused to accept that the attacks in Mannheim last May, Solingen in August and Magdeburg last month are “the new normal.”

The Afghan suspect in yesterday’s attack arrived in Germany in 2022 and was linked to three previous acts of violence, according to Bavarian officials. He had agreed to leave Germany last month, but was still receiving psychiatric treatment and living in a nursing home.

An investigating judge will decide whether he should remain in preventive detention or be temporarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

Merz said that on his first day as chancellor he would order the Interior Ministry to take permanent control of Germany’s borders.

“We see before us the ruins of 10 years of misguided asylum and immigration policy in Germany,” he said. “We have reached the limit.”

Under her party colleague Angela Merkel, Germany took in more than a million refugees during Europe’s 2015-16 migration crisis.

Criticizing EU asylum rules as “admittedly dysfunctional”, he said Germany should now “exercise its right to the primacy of national law”.

Germany has already reinstated controls at its borders to combat illegal immigration, which is temporarily allowed under the EU’s Schengen free border rules as a “last resort” measure, but not permanently.

Merz also said it was time to significantly increase the number of places available for pre-deportation detention.

Merz’s promise to close the borders to illegal entries on his first day at the chancellery in Berlin has a Trumpian tone.

The American president has promoted a series of executive orders and actions to address illegal immigration since returning to the White House this week.

In Germany, both the center-left chancellor and Merz are aware that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which consistently comes second in polls, has made immigration a key issue.

AfD leader Alice Weidel has called for a vote in the German parliament next week on closing Germany’s borders and returning irregular migrants. “The knife terror in Aschaffenburg must have consequences now,” he said on social media.

Some critics will argue that Scholz and Merz’s decision to take a tougher stance now comes too late. Others will argue that a shift to the right by the main parties could simply reinforce the AfD’s arguments.

In any case, German politics does not lend itself to a set of presidential-style first-day decrees, given the need to form coalitions with other parties.

The leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party, Christian Lindner, said Merz would not be able to introduce such changes if he formed a coalition with the Social Democrats or the Green Party.

Nancy Faeser, Interior Minister and Olaf Scholz’s party colleague, suggested that “some people are now presenting largely fact-free arguments in election campaign mode.”

“I can only warn very clearly against the abuse of an act so terrible for populism, which only benefits right-wing populists with their contempt for humanity,” he said.

The 41-year-old man who died in Wednesday’s knife attack has been praised, apparently for coming to the aid of the nursery group and saving the lives of other children.

Another two-year-old girl of Syrian origin suffered stab wounds to the neck.

A 72-year-old man suffered serious stab wounds and a kindergarten teacher suffered a broken arm.