German Chancellor warns AfD's 'remigration' plan could cripple economy
Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised the Alternative for Germany's proposal to intensify deportations, saying it would undermine essential services and likening it to ethnic cleansing.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the Bundestag that the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) push for a stricter "remigration" policy would devastate the German economy. He said the term is essentially a synonym for ethnic cleansing based on origin and skin colour, and warned that forcing foreign-born workers to leave would cripple skilled trades, nursing homes, hospitals and restaurants.
Merz made the remarks after the AfD secured a landslide victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where it fell just short of an absolute parliamentary majority. The party’s election program for the state includes a chapter on "immigration and remigration," and its lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund attended a 2023 meeting where far-right figures discussed mass deportations of "non-assimilated" German citizens.
AfD national co-leader Alice Weidel responded, asserting that voters in Saxony-Anhalt had rejected the governing coalition and that the party would seek a mandate to govern in the next national election. Merz also accused the AfD of ignoring security threats, linking a recent drone attack at Leipzig-Halle airport to Russian planning and alleging the party’s support for Russian disinformation campaigns.
The chancellor said the government would use all available means to counter the AfD’s agenda.