The leader of the German Christian Democratic Union has come under fire after saying that it is much easier for asylum seekers in Germany to get an appointment with a dentist than for German citizens.
Spiegel reports this, writes European Truth.
Merz’s remarks came on Welt as he criticized Germany’s system of opportunities for asylum seekers, which is one of the factors that makes Germany a particularly attractive country for people who want to start a new life in Europe.
Merz said the social security system needed to be overhauled because the current state of affairs, in which asylum seekers have access to “all health care services” and especially those whose applications have already been rejected, is very annoying to German citizens.
“They go to the doctor and get their teeth repaired, while German citizens take a long time to get an appointment,” said Friedrich Merz.
The head of the state of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, said that Merz with such statements “makes the case for the AfD” (the right-wing populist party “Alternative for Germany”) and reinforces the narratives they promote, and this only distracts attention from the real problems of the German health care system.
Politicians from the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party and the Greens were also outraged.
Social Democratic Interior Minister Nancy Feser called Merz’s words “pathetic populism on the backs of the weak,” which plays into the AfD’s hands. She also pointed out that the statement was untrue because refugees only receive urgent care for medical emergencies. The party’s managing director in the Bundestan faction, Katja Mast, demands that Merz publicly apologize.
They tried to defend Merz in their own political forces. In particular, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wurst, said that the leader only wanted to draw attention to the significant strain created by the arrival of a large number of asylum seekers on the social and medical system, and those familiar with the situation understand that the system is overloaded.
Christian Social Union spokesman and MEP Manfred Weber noted that Merz “talks about what ordinary people on the streets talk about.”
Previously, Merz had to apologize for saying that some Ukrainians in Germany “engaged in social tourism.”
The CDU was also recently criticized for the fact that in the state of Thuringia the party teamed up to vote with Alternative for Germany (AdH).
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2023-09-29 04:32:06