Spahn defends the Chancellor: Most people know what Merz means
Berlin. The leadership of the CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union) reacted with irritation to the participation of SPD parliamentary group vice-chair Wiebke Esdar in a demonstration against Chancellor Friedrich Merz's (CDU) "cityscape" remark. CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU) said on the ARD program "Bericht aus Berlin": "Opposition in government – that has never worked." Steffen Bilger, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group's first parliamentary manager, told the "Tagesspiegel": "Any SPD leader who demonstrates against the chancellor of the joint coalition is recklessly contributing to people's less confidence in us to govern well."
For days, people have been taking to the streets to protest Merz's statements on migration and the "cityscape." On Friday evening, there was also a rally in Bielefeld, which the local Bundestag member Esdar participated in. She told the online edition of the daily newspaper "Neue Westfälische" (nw.de) on Saturday: "I am exercising my right to demonstrate – as, fortunately, everyone in Germany is entitled to." She further emphasized that the motto "We are the cityscape" stands for a diverse, cosmopolitan city without discrimination.
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On October 14, Merz said the federal government was correcting past failures in migration policy and making progress, "but of course we still have this problem in the cityscape, and that's why the Federal Minister of the Interior is now in the process of enabling and carrying out returns on a very large scale." Later, when asked, he said: "Ask your daughters what I could have meant by that."
On Wednesday, he then specified that problems would be caused by those migrants who did not have permanent residence status, who did not work, and who did not comply with the rules applicable in Germany.
Spahn defended Merz against criticism: "The Chancellor is expressing what the vast majority of Germans think. The left-wing outrage circus of the last few days—that ignores the reality of the people. The vast majority knew what he meant from the beginning," said the parliamentary group leader.
It's not about skin color or ethnicity, nor about the vast majority of people with a migration background, first, second, and third generation, who want to help shape the country's future. "It's about situations at main train stations and marketplaces where we see neglect. About streets and neighborhoods where Jews, gays, and women don't dare go. Where we have rising crime," Spahn said.
"I want to have cityscapes where gays and Jews can show who and what they are without having to fear," Spahn emphasized. "I want Christmas markets that don't have to look like fortresses," he added. "Many people with and without a migration background feel the same way," said the CDU politician. He declared: "Let's take action so that we increase security, so that we enforce the law, so that the cityscape becomes one where everyone, with and without a migration background, feels comfortable."
RND/dpa
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