Merkel says Merz ‘wrong’ for pushing though German migration proposal with far right in rare criticism of successor – Europe live | Germany

A spokesperson for the European Commission has just been asked about the German motion at their daily midday press briefing:

Here is his answer in full:

As you know, we don’t comment on political debates, drafts and announcements, and I will not do that today.

We will look at the texts when they’re ready.

He adds that any questions on the proposals should be addressed to the EU’s migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, who is in Warsaw. We covered some of his initial thoughts earlier (9:52).

Norway’s Eurosceptic Centre Party will resign from the government on Thursday due to a disagreement with coalition partner Labour over the adoption of EU energy policies, public broadcaster NRK and daily VG reported, citing anonymous sources.

The Centre Party, in government since 2021, holds eight seats in Norway’s 20-person cabinet, including the finance minister, the defence minister and the minister of justice and public security, while Labour has the remaining 12 posts.

If Centre’s exit is confirmed, Labour could now rule alone in a minority government until elections in September.

Labour has said Norway must maintain good relations with the EU given the threat of a trade war between Europe and the United States, Reuters reports.

in Rome

Italy’s parliament has been suspended until 4 February, a move pushed by opposition parties after two ministers cancelled an address in connection to the case of Osama Najim, the Libyan general wanted for war crimes who Italy last week released and repatriated.

The planned address by Matteo Piantedosi and defence minister Carlo Nordio was removed from the schedule on Wednesday after it was announced that they were being placed under investigation over the repatriation of Najim, who is wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including alleged rape and murder. Najim was arrested in Turin on 19 January following a tip-off from Interpol before being released and sent back to Tripoli on a state flight two days later.

Prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Alfredo Mantovano, the cabinet undersecretary for intelligence matters, are also under investigation.

Meloni has also so far avoided questions in parliament, instead using social media to defend her government’s move, arguing that Najim needed to be immediately deported because he posed a risk to national security.

Critics have accused the government of freeing Najim because it relies on Libya’s security forces to stem the flow of boat migrants from the north African country and didn’t want to antagonise them by arresting such a high profile figure. The number of people arriving on Italy’s southern shores have surged over the past week, the majority leaving from Libya.

“Meloni must tell the country the truth,” said Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic party. “We have asked her to come to the Chamber and will continue to insist.”

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has just issued a rare statement directly criticising her successor as the leader of the CDU/CSU, Friedrich Merz, for passing far-reaching proposals on migration and asylum with the support of the far-right.

She said that Merz was “wrong to no longer feel bound” by a political agreement to not put forward proposals that could be carried with the backing of the Alternative für Deutschland.

She said that “it is necessary for all democratic parties to work together across party political boundaries … and on the basis of applicable European law” to do whatever it takes to prevent further attacks as those in Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg.

Merkel is often criticised for her legacy in migration matters after her decision to open German borders and accept asylum seekers at the peak of the migration crisis in mid-2010s.

… and as the ministers go to talk behind the closed doors, let us take a look at what’s happening elsewhere in Europe.

Ingrid Gercama spoke with students protesters in Serbia to give you an idea on what is happening on the ground after the country’s prime minister Miloš Vučević resigned earlier this week following months of protests over the fatal collapse of a train station roof in November.

As she notes, “according to some, it is the biggest student-led movement in Europe since 1968; certainly, it is the among the biggest waves of dissent in Belgrade since the protests that led to the fall of the Serbian president Slobodan Milošević in 2000.”

Here is her report:

Sitting on the balustrade of a viaduct in Belgrade, Uroš Pantović wasn’t in the mood to mince his words. The 22-year-old had joined tens of thousands of others protesters on Monday to block one of the Serbian capital’s main intersections, turning the junction into a sea of mostly good-humoured but nonetheless determined dissent.

“We’re here to tell our government that it’s accountable to us,” said Pantović, a student at the law faculty of the University of Belgrade, who had come with three friends from his home town, Kosjerić. “I came here to help people because the government tries to screw us over in many ways.”

There is a theme emerging in responses to questions on Germany.

Luxembourg’s home minister Léon Gloden:

We do not want to have controls on the internal borders [of the EU]. We have 250,000 commuters coming to work in Luxembourg from Germany, France, and Belgium, so [restoring] border controls on internal borders is not the right solution for our country.

“Schengen is one of the most important achievements of the EU,” he says.

Directly asked about Merz’s proposals, he says: “I am not commenting on German domestic policy.”

But pushed further he seems to suggests that if Germany requests an extension of border controls with Luxembourg, it would respond by lodging an objection with the European Commission.

German interior minister Nancy Faeser opened her statement with a targeted dig at the opposition parties which backed the migration motion last night, insisting Germany “will not jeopardise this joint European action through dangerous national solo efforts.”

Echoing chancellor Scholz’s comments from yesterday, she pointedly said she had to act in accordance with German constitution and EU law.

“I want to make it clear because the debates in Germany are causing irritation among our European neighbours these days,” she said.

Asked specifically about the events in the Bundestag yesterday, she goes further: “What happened yesterday was irresponsible and oblivious to history.”

She also defended EU Schengen arrangements, but argued some border controls were necessary “until we have better and more secure external border protection.”

Uh-oh, Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez is not happy with the German proposals, which include calls for restoring border controls:

It is quite important for us to strenghten our external borders, but we think that the internal control must be [allowed only in] exceptional [circumstances]. Free movement inside the EU is for us one of the most important values we have.

We have to strenghten our cooperation on [protecting] the external borders … [but] internal border controls must be the last resort.

Asked what will the EU do if Germany goes ahead with its proposals, he says:

I think it is not going to be possible. I would like to think so.

EU internal affairs and migration commissioner Magnus Brunner has just been speaking in Warsaw.

The Austrian said that while the EU has changed its migration and asylum policy last year, there is still more to be done on returns.

“Nobody understands why people [who] are not allowed to, cannot stay in the European Union are not going to be returned, and that is why are are working on new, tigher rules also on returns,” he said.

Asked specifically about the German motion passed last night, he said the EU needed to have a look at what was actually in the proposal.

Morning opening: What’s next for EU migration and asylum policy?

Jakub Krupa

A day after Germany’s conservative opposition, relying on the votes of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, pushed through a motion calling for a radical overhaul of the country’s migration and asylum policy, EU justice and home affairs ministers meet in Warsaw to discuss… migration.

Critics say the German proposals, proposed by the CDU/CSU which is leading in the polls ahead of next month’s general election and could soon find itself in power in Berlin, could breach EU laws.

Current chancellor Olaf Scholz warned yesterday that his government “pushed the boundaries” of what is possible but insisted that “we cannot and must not go beyond the law,” or Germany’s reputation as a law-abiding ally would be at risk.

However, most Germans seem to disagree as over 60% back the controversial proposals – including a majority of those Scholz’s voters.

In this context, EU justice and home affairs ministers gather in Warsaw this morning for an “informal meeting” to discuss migration management, among other things. Hope they have some good ideas.

Ministers will start arriving any moment now, and we will bring you their comments on arrival (if they say something interesting, that is).

But there is a lot going on elsewhere in Europe, too: in stark contrast to yesterday’s event, the Bundestag will be discussing whether to ban AfD, Nordic defence ministers are meeting in Helsinki, and we have lots of update on France, Serbia, Slovakia, Denmark, Greenland, and Ukraine, among others.

It’s Thursday, 30 January 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

Good morning.