Angela Merkel does not regret open borders

During the migrant crisis in 2015, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to open Germany’s already porous borders wide open, and more than a million migrants entered the country. Despite the negative consequences it has had for Germany and its population, Merkel does not regret it and would do the same thing again.

In an interview with four Nordic public service companies, Angela Merkel stated that she has no regrets.

In September 2015, she decided to disregard the EU countries’ common asylum rules and let migrants who had reached Hungary continue to Germany.

“Wir schaffen das” – We can do it – was the slogan as 10,000 migrants streamed in per day.

“I would make the same decision today. When people in great need are at the door, one must act with humanity,” she says to SVT, NRK, DR, and Yle.

Merkel’s decision has led to an already difficult situation being further exacerbated by crime and migrants burdening the welfare system. It also led to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) growing significantly with major electoral successes.

“Would I perhaps have sent water cannons against the refugees,” says Merkel.

Syrians should go home

After the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a debate has erupted in Germany about the Syrians. Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz says that Syrians who are not integrated should return home.

“We must now speak very openly with them and say: You have no place in Germany in the long run… We have long held the opinion that people could at least have returned to the north long ago, and now also to other parts of the country.”