Germany‘s government in waiting has said that foreigners must assimilate to the country’s local values and culture as it attempts to clamp down on migration.
Following this month’s collapse of Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Sholz’s fractious three-way coalition, the country’s centre-right Christian Democrats Union political party has been promoting its ‘Leitkultur’ manifesto, in which it stresses the importance of making migrants in Germany adapt culturally.
This includes speaking the German language, respecting the German law and becoming German citizens.
Speaking to The Telegraph, CDU interior affairs spokesperson Alexander Throm said that all foreigners living in Germany should adopt the concept of ‘Leitkultur’.
‘It is the way that we live in Germany as a cultural nation,’ he said.
‘It concerns not only our languages and customs, but also our cultural and historical foundations. It ultimately means that people, no matter why they come to Germany, orient themselves towards this cultural basis, not the other way around.’
Throm also revealed that Germany will start turning non-European refugees away from its border if the CDU wins the next election, due to its ‘special duty’ towards Ukraine.
He also warned that EU states would be expected to take in a fairer share of refugees in future, as Germany has already taken in 1.2 million migrants from Ukraine.
‘It is clear that we stand by our European neighbours and by refugees. But it’s also clear that, with every further movement of refugees in our direction, we must ensure that they are appropriately distributed in all European countries,’he said.
Germany receives the most asylum applications in the European Union – nearly a third of all total claim to the 27 member states.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to admit over a million refugees fleeing wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in 2015 has proven controversial in Germany – with even Merkel herself admitting that while she supported her decision, ‘for some time we didn’t have enough control’ at the border.
The November collapse of the German government invites the possibility of change, with centre-right Frierich Merz of the CDU expected to perform well after his campaign on a stronger stance on migration.
Throm’s comments come after it was announced last month that asylum seekers will be stripped of their benefits after the government voted to tighten its rules for refugees.
The package of measures will withdraw benefits from asylum seekers who have already been registered in other EU countries and are slated for deportation.
It will also mean that refugees who temporarily return to their home countries will ‘as a rule’ lose their right to protection in Germany, according to the legislation.
The same will apply to refugees who commit crimes with anti-Semitic or homophobic motivation.
The new rules were brought forward by the government in August in response to a deadly stabbing at a festival in the western city of Solingen.
The suspect, a 26-year-old Syrian man with suspected links to the Islamic State group, was slated for deportation but evaded authorities’ attempts to remove him.
The whole package will also introduce stricter rules on the carrying of knives and gives police broader powers of investigation.
