German opposition leader plans migration proposals to parliament in risky pre-election move

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s opposition leader said Friday his party will bring motions to toughen migration policy to parliament next week in one of its last sessions before the country’s election, a risky move if they go to a vote and pass with the help of a far-right party.

Friedrich Merz, whose center-right Union bloc leads polls ahead of Germany’s Feb. 23 election, vowed Thursday to bar people from entering the country without proper papers and to step up deportations if he is elected chancellor. Those comments came after a knife attack in Aschaffenburg by a rejected asylum-seeker, which left a man and a 2-year-old boy dead, spilled over into the election campaign.

On Friday, he said that the Union will bring motions to parliament next week “that correspond solely to our conviction” and added: “We will introduce them independently of who approves them.”

That potentially leaves Merz open to accusations of breaking longstanding pledges not to work directly or indirectly with the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD. The party is polling strongly and has long called on the Union to abandon the “firewall” that it and other mainstream parties have vowed to maintain against it.

Merz said his position toward AfD remains clear and his party won’t approve any AfD motion, won’t go into government or work with it and won’t negotiate with it on any motions. His bloc insisted that it is looking for votes from other mainstream parties.

Merz didn’t specify exactly what would be in the proposals. Motions can urge the government or parliament to take action, but are nonbinding

It’s also not clear whether any vote will actually happen before the election. Motions and bills usually have three readings before lawmakers vote on them, a process that typically stretches over weeks and can only be shortened with a vote by a two-thirds majority.

The general secretary of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats warned of a potential “political dam breach.”

Matthias Miersch told German news agency dpa that there had been a consensus among mainstream parties weeks ago that no laws should be agreed with AfD votes, but “apparently Friedrich Merz is now terminating this consensus and not only breaking through the firewall but sending a disastrous signal.”

Center-left parties that Merz may need to form a coalition government have cast doubt on the feasibility of his migration demands.

The Associated Press