Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): A controversial plan to restrict immigration to Germany, which was supported by the far-right, was rejected in the country's parliament on Friday (Jan 31).
The plan, known as the "entry restriction law", was blocked in the Bundestag after hours of political debate and wrangling between the Christian Democrats (CDU), the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens.
Friedrich Mertz, the leader of the Christian Democrats, proposed reviewing the plan last week and relied on the votes of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to advance it. The move called into question the decades-old tradition of Germany's main parties always excluding the far-right from the political process.
Mertz argued in defense of the plan that stricter immigration controls were necessary in response to several high-profile murders in public spaces by people with a migrant background.
The plan called for permanent border checks and the rejection of all asylum applications from people who entered Germany through “illegal routes.”
However, the Social Democrats and Greens, which are in the coalition government of Olaf Schulz, tried to prevent a vote by referring the plan to committees.
On the other hand, the Free Democrats (FDP), which support stricter immigration laws, announced that they were looking for a way to pass the law without relying on the AfD’s votes.
In a podcast for the newspaper Die Zeit, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz warned that Germany was in danger of following the path of Austria, where the right-wing Freedom Party has become the dominant political force. "Everyone said they wouldn't form a coalition with the Freedom Party, but now we might have a chancellor from the party," he said.
Angela Merkel, the former German chancellor and former leader of the Christian Democrats, also criticized her party's cooperation with the far-right, saying: "I consider it a mistake to avoid this commitment and deliberately allow an AfD majority in the Bundestag for the first time."