Germany seeks to block asylum seekers at border

Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has pledged to be tougher towards illegal migrants

Migration was a key campaign issue during Germany's recent elections. AP

Asylum seekers may be denied entry to Germany under a new government's plans to get tough on immigration, but EU neighbours could scupper such plans.

The coalition taking shape in Berlin plans to take "all legal measures" to curb illegal migration, after a far-right party surged to second in last month's election. A key pledge by chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz was to turn away illegal migrants even if they claim asylum, something outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz had said would breach EU law.

Mr Merz's plan has made it into an initial 11-page agreement paving the way for formal coalition talks between his centre-right bloc and Mr Scholz's party. The prospective ruling parties say they "will, in co-ordination with our European neighbours, carry out returns at our common borders even in the case of asylum claims".

But a row has broken out over what "co-ordination with our European partners" means. Jens Spahn, a right-wing colleague of Mr Merz, told a German podcast that "we will not make ourselves dependent on agreement from other countries" to take back rejected asylum seekers. But Scholz ally Saskia Esken told German radio that the parties had "agreed something different".

Germany's chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz, left, is to hold coalition talks with the Social Democrats now led by Lars Klingbeil, right. Getty Images

Adding to the uncertainty are mixed messages from one of those neighbours, Austria. Its Interior Ministry has told police to refuse to accept instructions from Germany that breach EU law. But Austria's new Chancellor Christian Stocker has since appeared warmer, telling Bild that it was "pleasing" to see Germany change its tone on migration.

The proposed migration crackdown would also include an end to resettling Afghans in Germany and the introduction of a "deportation offensive", in which police would gain wider powers to arrest illegal migrants. People living in Germany with "subsidiary protection" - as many people from Syria do - would lose the right to have their families join them.

Migration was a key election campaign issue after a string of violent incidents involving asylum seekers, including a car ramming attack in Munich. About 230,000 new asylum claims were lodged in Germany last year, with Syrians making up almost a third of those.

The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won a record 20.8 per cent of the vote at the election, dismissed the migration plans as "vague promises" that were "full of caveats and back doors". Mr Merz has said he wants to make the AfD "disappear" by addressing the voter concerns that fuelled the party's rise.

The likely ruling partners are under pressure to make a quick deal as US President Donald Trump's foreign policy shake-up forces Germany and Europe into far-reaching decisions on their future. Mr Merz's party is pushing to agree on a coalition within two weeks, with some details worked out later if necessary.

The parties have proposed relaxing Germany's strict debt rules to allow more military spending, as well as borrowing €500 billion ($545.32 billion) over 10 years to upgrade roads, railways and energy grids. Whether they can find the two-thirds majority in parliament remains to be seen, however, as the Greens would need to support it.

A spokesman for Mr Scholz said he "feels validated" by much of what the next government is planning after he campaigned for more public spending in his doomed re-election bid. Mr Scholz says he is not seeking a role in the new cabinet.