Since the attack in Solingen, a heated debate about migration has been taking place in political Berlin. Now Boris Palmer has also spoken out on Facebook – the mayor of Tübingen has come forward with a clear position.
Four weeks have now passed since the attack in Solingen. Tübingen’s mayor Boris Palmer is not unmoved by the way the debate on asylum policy has been conducted since then.
He has now shared a post on Facebook in which he calls for more common sense in the migration debate. He speaks of an “uninhibited debate”.
He finds this “terrible and unworthy of our country. We have gone from one extreme to the other.”
Palmer has no understanding for CDU reaction
Since 2015, the view has been that nothing can be done about irregular migration, writes Palmer. Now, proposals may suddenly not be radical enough. Palmer lacks balance and moderation.
The impetus for his Facebook post was that the CDU had declared the talks on a joint reform of migration policy with the traffic light government to have failed, Palmer told the Stuttgarter Zeitung.
Surprise about the Greens: “They are doing everything that was previously rejected”
The mayor criticizes this: “The government has gone so far to accommodate. The Greens in particular have suddenly gone along with everything they previously rejected. And then getting up from the table seems to me to be motivated more by party politics in order to keep the election campaign issue and less by state politics.”
Palmer considers Merz’s behavior to be negligent
Palmer also makes this accusation against Merz in his Facebook post. He says Merz’s behavior is negligent. “In this way, a real change in migration policy is being obscured by the dispute and that really only helps the AfD.”
The Greens and their role in the migration debate are also a topic. Palmer told the Stuttgarter Zeitung that he thinks the party is doing something right now. “But it’s just coming so late that it’s no use to them now.”
Palmer on decisions: “Panicked overreaction”
At the same time, he speaks of a reaction that is too strong in the other direction. “Clinging to old beliefs on migration issues has made the pressure in the boiler ever greater. Now there has been an explosion and, in my opinion, things are moving almost too quickly in the other direction.”
With regard to the government’s decisions following the attack, he speaks of a “panicked overreaction.”
“Knife-free zones do not stop attackers”
Much of what is being discussed no longer has much to do with Solingen, says Palmer in his post. IS could also send assassins across the green border, knife-free zones would not stop them.
Hundreds of people shared their opinion under Palmer’s post. “Unfortunately, it is the extremists who tend to express their opinion. There are many who say that even what the Union is proposing is useless,” says Palmer. “There are not many green voices.”
