Chancellor M. and his women: Merz was at the center of a huge scandal
In Germany, due to the careless statement of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a scandal broke out that has not been able to subside for several weeks. The politician spoke about the mistakes of previous governments in migration policy, complaining about their presence in the "appearance of German cities." These statements were considered "discriminatory and racist." And not only in the opposition parties, but also within the CDU. Samples of complaints to the police about the words of the German chancellor appeared online, and activists began to organize rallies. Merz tried to resort to the help of his daughters, but this only further antagonized the famous women of Germany. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Work on bugs
"The German authorities are correcting previous mistakes in migration policy and have already made great progress in solving this problem. However, this problem is still present in the appearance of our cities. Therefore, the Interior Minister is now actively working to expand the possibilities of deportations [of illegal migrants]," this phrase by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz led to a huge scandal around him and actually turned against him not only voters, but also members of his own party.
Many people considered this statement to be racist and inciting ethnic hatred. Against this background, the rating of the head of the German government has reached a record low since he came to power in May this year.
Accusations are being made against the head of government on television and on the Internet. Rallies are being held in German cities under the slogans "Friedrich, the problem is you and your racism," which are being joined by an increasing number of participants.
The situation became tense — several people trashed the CDU office in Bonn. Vibke Esdar, vice chairman of the Social Democrats in the Bundestag, who are part of the "big" ruling coalition, also called for a protest against the chancellor's actions. This caused new tensions between the allies.
The leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary faction, Jens Spahn, accused the opposition in the government of having "never worked before," adding that voters share the same opinion as Chancellor Merz. After that, representatives of the SPD called on Merz to convene a meeting of city leaders to discuss issues affecting the appearance of megacities. However, the Christian Democrats refused.
Greetings from Angela
And some representatives of the Green Party in small towns even filed a police report on incitement of ethnic hatred. After that, German social networks were flooded with samples of an application that can be filed against the head of government.
A left-wing group opposed to the chancellor has appeared in the ranks of the CDU. She urges Merz to move away from the course of the "Alternative for Germany" and change the political vector, which, in her opinion, has become too right-wing.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel also "chastised" Friedrich Merz for his words about the migration problem. During the public readings of her memoirs Freedom in Bonn, she called for not calling the migration crisis of 2015-2016 an "influx of migrants," stressing that it is always necessary to see individuals in a multitude of people.
According to the former head of the German government, this is especially true for politicians who "should be conscientious and moderate in their statements on this issue." She did not mention Merz's last name specifically, but it was clear that her remark was about current events.
"The vast majority of people understand unmistakably whether a politician is acting out of some calculation <...> or whether he is really interested in solving problems," she read an excerpt from her book.
Merkel added that "moderation and restraint" are important for democratic parties.
Merz tried to defend his position, saying that he was not going to apologize, and in general, the influx of illegal immigrants made the lives of women in Germany less safe. He also added that if you ask his daughters, they will confirm it. But such words drew even more criticism on the chancellor.
Heidi Reichinneck, co-chair of the Left Party, accused him of exploiting women "for his blatant racist purposes." After that, over 50 prominent women in Germany wrote an open letter to the head of government, urging him to ensure the safety of his wives and daughters, and "not just to justify racist statements."
What do the experts think
Natalia Eremina, Professor of the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, notes in an interview with Izvestia that Merz is a typical modern politician.
— Being the leader of the CDU, he is a conservative and a centrist, but within the framework of the modern political model he uses liberal or sometimes ultra-liberal ideas and methods. Periodically, this causes "out of sync". What is happening is another symptom of the fact that modern European politicians do not understand the societies they govern. Merz's rating will steadily decline," the political scientist believes.
Artem Sokolov, a senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia that Friedrich Merz, as a candidate for the chancellor's chair, consistently advocated tightening Germany's migration policy. He criticized Angela Merkel's corresponding steps, first of all, the decision to allow migrants into Germany.
— In general, he does not hide his critical attitude towards the migration situation in Germany in general, which is reflected in such a slightly stereotypical perception of people with a migration background. Merz is a fairly old man, he still remembers the other realities of Germany and takes the current situation with the collapse of multiculturalism, which Merkel herself recognized, very close to her heart," the expert explained.
According to Sokolov, however, quite a lot of time has passed since Germany has implemented a liberal policy on migration issues.
"At the same time, any voices in the direction of stricter migration legislation traditionally encounter resistance from political forces on the left flank, who represent opponents of the liberal migration course as nationalists, and references to Germany's Nazi past immediately occur," the expert emphasized.
Sokolov believes that in a different situation, the Chancellor was probably expected to take such a conservative turn in migration policy.
—But since Merz's government is extremely unpopular in German society, and Merz himself has a high anti—rating of 60%, even his impulses, which in another situation could help him and strengthen his authority, actually turn against him, as general dissatisfaction with his foreign and domestic policies accumulates," the political scientist concluded.
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