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“Involving refugees doesn’t really overwhelm us”
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More migrants move to new camps on Lesbos
More and more migrants and refugees are moving to the new tent camp at Kara Tepe, on the Greek island of Lesbos. According to the authorities, 5,000 people have been housed there after the Moria camp fire.
The fact that Germany wants to host about 1,500 immigrants from the Greek islands is not a problem for the president of the CDU, Friedrich Merz. But he criticizes harshly when the federal states and mayors wanted to have their own asylum policy.
CDU President Friedrich Merz has welcomed the federal government’s promised admission of more than 1,500 refugees from the Greek islands. “As long as there is no distribution mechanism in place in Europe, Germany can host some of the recognized refugees. That doesn’t really overwhelm us, ”said Merz, who wants to be elected leader of the CDU at the party’s conference in December, the publishing network Germany.
Merz criticized federal states and mayors who had offered to accept refugees after the Moria camp fire on the Greek island of Lesbos. “Not all federal states and not all mayors can develop their own asylum and immigration policy,” she said. “Because everyone wants housing expenses to be reimbursed by the federal government.”
Decent housing in the EU is important. This is also possible at the external borders of the EU. The lesson of the 2015 refugee crisis is that the rules must be followed. Those who even demand the admission of all refugees are calling for the suspension of the Dublin regulation, according to which asylum applications must be made in the first host country, Merz said.
The EU Commission urges all states to find a joint solution
Of the 1,553 immigrants that Germany wants to host, only a few will come from Lesbos. However, Interior Minister Seehofer defends the Bundestag’s decision: “So far I am the only Interior Minister in Europe who has proposed a solution for the human response,” Seehofer said.
Several federal states and municipalities agreed to accept refugees, but failed due to resistance from the federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer (CSU). The grand coalition has now agreed to accept around 1,500 more refugees from the Greek islands.
Hundreds of families who have already been recognized by the Greek authorities as entitled to protection are said to benefit from the aid measure following the destruction of the Moria camp on Lesbos by several fires.
What Merz wants to do different from 2018
In the case of his election as president of the CDU, Merz does not expect his party to split. He also assured that he would later involve his competitor Armin Laschet. “If I am elected, I do not see such a division,” Merz said. “Most party members at the grassroots level would like a clear course to be determined. And when I become president of the party, Armin Laschet will of course be vice president of my team. “
In 2018, Merz had already run for the CDU presidency and had just lost to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. He made it clear that this time he wanted to make his appearance at the party a little different than then: “I gave a very serious speech in 2018 because I assumed the party expected that. I understood that some flares must appear in such a speech. “
