GParliament had just commemorated the victims of the Holocaust at a memorial hour, and then the opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) appeared at the general debate in the Bundestag. Merz says it's difficult for him to simply go back to business as usual after the commemoration – and then he does so quite quickly.
First he thanked him for the previous speeches and for those of French President Emmanuel Macron recently in the Bundestag at the funeral ceremony for the deceased CDU politician Wolfgang Schäuble. Then, in response to this “really great speech,” Merz calls for a “major German initiative for Europe”; the last one was decades ago.
Germany should find ways for a common foreign, security and industrial policy and move forward together with France and the new Polish government – from a position of strength. The prerequisite for this is that Germany overcomes its competitive weakness. And Merz has already drawn the rhetorical line from the memorial hour to the attack on the traffic lights.
Financial leeway could be achieved if social spending were limited to those who really needed it, the burden of transformation in the energy sector should not only be borne through subsidies, and labor costs would have to be capped. There must be a sufficient gap between social benefits and wage replacement benefits. This is currently not the case; citizens' money does not promote willingness to perform. According to the CDU chairman, the SPD is now the party of subsidized unemployment and no longer that of employees.
“Our country needs bold but realistic goals,” says Merz. Germany must stop lecturing everyone else and keep looking for a different path. “The heckling shows,” Merz addresses the traffic light factions, “that I can reach you exactly at the point where you have the greatest weaknesses.”
The traffic lights act “callously and ruthlessly”
Merz admits that his remarks have nothing to do with the budget to be voted on today. Because the Union “completely disagrees” on all essential issues, not in detail but in principle, it has no amendments. “If you button the bottom of the jacket incorrectly, then we will not discuss with you how big the button should be in the last hole at the top. We’re not having this discussion with you, quite simply.”
While the members of the Union faction clap loudly, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) are typing on their cell phones, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is chatting.
In the past, the traffic light had “rejected all of the Union’s amendments without exception”. That is their right, says Merz. “But please spare yourself and us your calls for cooperation in the future, they are pure political rhetoric.” Because where the Union asks the traffic light to reconsider the scope of its decisions, the traffic light is “callous and ruthless.” of their majority, for example in the case of citizenship law. The “Germany Pact on Migration” was not canceled by the Union, but by the traffic light, which repeatedly shows that it is not interested in cooperation, Merz continued.
Merz rules out a relaxation of the debt brake. “We say: challenges can be solved without new debts.” It’s just a question of prioritizing spending. Securing freedom must be the absolute priority. It is important for peace in Ukraine, but also for internal peace in Germany.
Regarding the recent protests “against right-wing extremism and right-wing populism,” Merz says in this context: “We expressly welcome that.” But if the government were to do a “fairly good job,” the AfD would not be in the polls from ten to 20 percent within two years grown. The traffic lights do not solve the country's problems and do not get the refugee crisis under control. Germany must reduce irregular migration, for example by no longer providing cash benefits for asylum seekers.
At the end of his speech, Merz goes back to the beginning and talks about Europe again. “Let me make one thing clear,” he says: “With us there will be no return to nationalism in Europe.” The EU is the basis for freedom, peace and prosperity. Merz addressed the last words to the AfD faction: “Enough is enough. You are not the alternative for Germany, you would be Germany's decline, not only economically but also morally.” The Union will oppose this.