Angela Merkel has sparked anger in Germany after telling migrants to vote against hard-right party AfD.
In an interview with Hesse Broadcasting earlier this month, the former Chancellor of Germany called for people with a ‘migration background’ to join forces with those who do not align themselves with AfD.
She added: ‘I wish everyone would stand together against this party. And we do not split ourselves as a political center, I say, onto those who have a migration history and those who have none. Because then our country would become weaker against the AfD.’
‘Whether a German citizen has been a German citizen for two years or for four days or the entire family for three generations, it doesn’t matter. We are the German people… We must also stick together when we have to take action against people who have completely different ideas about our future.’
AfD leader Alice Weidel hit back at Merkel’s comments, claiming the former Chancellor had ‘inflicted severe damage’ on the country.
‘In addition to the ruin of our energy infrastructure and the open borders for everyone from all over the world, she is now calling on naturalized “people with a migration background” not to vote for the AfD,’ she added.
Under Merkel’s leadership in 2015, Germany opened its borders to Syrians fleeing the civil war, launching the EU’s migrant crisis.
Despite this, the CDU politician was recognised last week in the EU’s first ever honours list, alongside other figures such as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Under Merkel’s leadership in 2015, Germany opened its borders to Syrians fleeing the civil war, launching the EU’s migrant crisis
She was honoured for her work in leading Germany away from nuclear and towards renewable energy, however her 16 years as leader were not without controversy.
While she was credited with saving the EU during the Eurozone crisis, her legacy was tarnished by her handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the 2015 migrant crisis.
She spent years appeasing Vladimir Putin by fuelling Germany with cheap Russian gas, allowing him to build up his coffers.
And her decision to take in over one million refugees during the migration crisis has since been disavowed by her Christian Democratic Union party.
Even her decision to push Germany away from nuclear energy, which she was recognised by the committee for, has been met with criticism.
By moving away from nuclear energy and cheap Russian gas, Germany saw a marked increase in the use of polluting coal.
In the 2025 elections, AfD achieved a 20.8 per cent vote share, receiving the second most seats in Germany’s Bundestag Parliament.
Meanwhile, current chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU and Christian Social Union in Bavaria earned the most seats, forming a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
Merz recently said the Middle East war could trigger uncontrolled migration in Europe, warning of ‘far-reaching consequences’ for the bloc.
In a statement on March 6, the chancellor said: ‘An endless war is not in our interest. The same applies to a collapse of Iranian statehood or proxy conflicts fought on Iranian soil.’
AfD leader Alice Weidel hit back at Merkel’s comments, claiming the former Chancellor had ‘inflicted severe damage’ on the country
Last year, the federal police, responsible for controlling the border, registered 62,526 illegal entries into Germany
‘Such scenarios could have far-reaching consequences for Europe, including for security, energy supply and migration.’
Speaking at a trade fair in Munich, the Chancellor said: ‘We do not want to see a Syrian scenario here.’
‘We want this state to be able to function on its own,’ he added of Iran.
Merz, who was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, also warned of devastating economic consequences.
‘This is, of course, damaging our economies. This is true for the oil prices, and this is true for the gas prices as well,’ Merz told reporters in the Oval Office.
‘So that’s the reason why we all hope that this war will come to an end as soon as possible,’ he added.
Under Merz’s leadership, Germany has imposed strict new border controls, with illegal immigration in Germany dropping to its lowest level in more than a decade, barring the first year of the pandemic.
From January to November 2025, 106,298 first-time asylum applications were recorded by the national migration agency Bamf, putting Germany on course for its smallest annual total since 2013.
In 2024, the number was over double, at 229,751.
Last year, the federal police, responsible for controlling the border, registered 62,526 illegal entries, half as many as in 2023.
Meanwhile, nearly 75 per cent of the 33,000 people who attempted to cross the frontier between May and December were either rejected or, in 58 cases, physically escorted back to the other side.
Chancellor Merz has decided to grapple with migration head on, declaring the issue a ‘national emergency’.
He has ordered German police to turn back virtually all undocumented migrants at the border and temporarily suspended family reunification.
On top of this, Merz also reversed many of Germany’s migration policies which had made the country such a popular destination for the asylum seeker.
These include the abandoning voluntary humanitarian refugee intake schemes while also replacing cash benefits with prepaid debit cards that can only be used in physical shops.
