We are a cosmopolitan and hospitable country. But hospitality doesn’t mean removing the front door. Instead, hospitality means that we decide for ourselves who and how many people will come to our home.
– said Mario Voigt, Thuringia State Chairman of the CDU, one of the party leaders responsible for compiling the political document.
The program booklet “Let’s Live in Freedom” was recently published, in which a number of restrictions were formulated to limit the number of asylum seekers arriving in the country.
Suggestions were made that arrivals should wait in a “safe third country” until their applications are assessed. The CDU’s vision shows great similarities to the British vision. Britain will strike a deal with Rwanda to send asylum seekers to the East African country while their claims are processed or even permanently.
The German Christian Democrats are noticeably trying to distance themselves from their previous immigration policy. Even during Angela Merkel’s leadership, Berlin pursued a more open policy toward refugees arriving in the country, but this backfired on party support. On the other hand, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has record high support, so the new CDU leadership has begun to pursue more and more right-wing policies to win back voters.
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