Is Migration The “Mother Of All Problems”?
The German interior minister certainly seems to think that migration is the mother of all problems. Horst Seehofer, the German interior minister stated his views clearly in a report on Wednesday the 5th of September. On the word of the Die Welt and Bild press papers, Seehofer made these claims in a closed-door meeting with his reclaimed CSU or Christian-Social Union party. The CSU is the Bavarian branch of the more popular CDU party headed my Angela Merkel.
Since these claims, the Christian-Social Union party will now be holding a weekend congress in Neuhardenberg, Berlin, just a month before the countries regional elections happening on the14th of October. The CSU has been reported to be losing ground and support in favour of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, more commonly known as the AfD. Seehofer’s highly voiced comments on Wednesday has put the party under pressure and they now feel that, whilst this was a move to show strength and toughness to oppose the opposition, they may look more extreme than ever.
Whilst speaking directly to his own party members, Seehofer expressed care for people in Chemnitz who were protesting and advocating against migration after a murder of a German by an Iraqi and Syrian. These protests were spearheaded by neo-Nazi groups and violent groups against foreign-looking people. This interior minister suggested that he understood their frustrations, and the fact that they were “troubled and outraged” by the murder that took place.
Speaking directly to the press, Seehofer stated: ”People have to know that we understand such indignation after such a brutal crime.” He also alleged that the crime was “in no way to appeal to violence.”. This all comes to light after a recent showdown between Angela Merkel and Seehofer regarding refugees coming to Germany, in which Seehofer threatened to hand in his resignation if the borders were not kept shut and there wasn’t security and agreement inside of the cabinet.
Once again opposing Merkel’s views, Seehofer suggests that the EU can no longer rely on the US after Trump’s meetings in Europe over the past few months. He stated that Europe must: “Take its destiny into its own hands. Europe shouldn’t become a counterweight to the US; rather, the US and Europe should together be a counterweight to those who undermine our Western values”.
