Stephan Weil warns: The refugee summit could be obsolete in the summer, he says on “Illner”. There is a bang between the Greens and the CSU when it comes to Turkey.
“I’m not satisfied with the overall result,” said Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) on Thursday right at the beginning of “Maybrit Illner”. The chairman of the conference of prime ministers spoke of a “stage result” in view of the billion euros promised by the federal government. However, Weil warned his party friend, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to make improvements immediately. Because the number of asylum seekers is increasing.
The guests
- Stephan Weil (SPD), Prime Minister of Lower Saxony
- Omid Nouripour, party leader Alliance 90/The Greens
- Manfred Weber, CSU Vice Chairman
- Heiko Teggatz, German Police Union
- Birgit Glorius, escape researcher
- Mariam Lau, “Zeit” journalist
In 2022, significantly more people came to Germany from Ukraine than there were applications for asylum, Weil recapitulated. “It’s becoming pretty much the same now,” he clarified. “If nothing significantly new happens, we will have a big problem at this point this year, in my estimation in the summer.” That’s what the mayors are worried about. “I fully understand that,” emphasized the Social Democrat.
“It’s also about the climate in this society,” the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony pointed out. The refugee crisis is not an issue like any other. That’s why you shouldn’t “just look at it with fiscal logic”. In the end, more money will not reduce the number of people coming to Germany, he admitted.
The hostess continued to be amazed that the SPD and the Greens are now also in favor of “reception camps” for asylum seekers, for which CSU leader Horst Seehofer had once been branded as “inhuman”. These people should no longer “simmer for months in German communities, but in camps: Is that the new reality now?” “That’s the plan, anyway, but not for months, very quickly,” Weil replied. According to him, Europe is basically facing the same problems as in 2015/16. “The only progress – that sounds cynical now – is that everyone now has the same pressure.”
Weber: “The limits have been reached”
“The traffic light coalition is slowly arriving in reality – where Horst Seehofer was two years ago,” said the group leader of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber (CSU). Now is the time to use this momentum. “The load limits have been reached,” he stated with a view to the situation in the municipalities. The refugee issue has been an “open wound” on the continent for years. “We need a solution before the next European elections,” demanded the CSU politician. “We finally have to ensure order at the external border,” if necessary with fences.
The fact that things suddenly got loud between Weber and Green Party leader Omid Nouripour was not due to this demand – but to the attitude towards Turkey. Illner wanted to know from Nouripour what he thinks about declaring Georgia and the Republic of Moldova safe countries of origin. “I think the concept of safe countries of origin is extremely overrated,” the party leader replied. EU accession candidates are not automatically safe countries of origin, as the dismantling of the rule of law in Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shows. This upset Weber.
“You want Turkey as a safe place of origin?”
The CSU politician interjected that four million refugees are housed in Turkey. How can you stand there and say that the rule of law is not guaranteed in Turkey? “You want Turkey as a safe place of origin?” Nouripour was amazed. “I haven’t heard that from anyone in your coalition. That’s exciting. Do you want to be deported to Afghanistan too?”
“We will discuss such questions,” affirmed Weber. “If there are four million refugees in Turkey, how do you explain that someone who is being sent back is not properly housed there?” He repeatedly accused the Greens of refusing reasonable solutions. “Because you keep bringing all the old bucks to the table that just don’t make it,” Nouripour replied.
“We have dissent in the coalition,” admitted the Greens leader with a view to the refugee summit and, like Weil, called for quick improvements. He understands if an agreement in November is too late for the city council. “That’s why we have to talk to each other in the next few weeks about how we can actually help the municipalities,” Nouripour demanded. He made it clear: “The bottom line is that it will not work without financial support for the municipalities, including from the federal government.”
