German chancellor faces growing backlash over migration remarks

By Natascha Koch

BERLIN (Reuters) -A senior member of Friedrich Merz's party joined growing criticism of the German chancellor on Tuesday over comments on migration that opponents have depicted as dangerous.

Merz rose to power on a pledge to see off the challenge of the far-right Alternative for Germany by addressing their voters' concerns, but is under fire over his response last week to a reporter's question about AfD's anti-migration policies.

Merz said his government was working to correct the failures of previous governments but that there was still a problem "in our cityscapes", a remark widely seen as appearing to link the changing ethnic composition of German cities with crime. 

CRITICISM FROM WITHIN MERZ'S OWN PARTY   

"Friedrich Merz is no longer shouting banter from the sidelines," said Dennis Radtke, a senior member of Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

"As chancellor he has a particular responsibility for social cohesion, debating culture and creating positive future narratives," said Radtke, who is a member of the European Parliament and head of the conservatives' social affairs caucus.  

Asked by a reporter on Monday what exactly he had meant by his comments last week, Merz doubled down by saying: "Ask your daughters, if you have them."

Opposition politicians have seized on the "daughters" remark, seeing it as Merz drawing on a trope loved by the far-right that portrays migrants as a particular danger to German-born white women.

"Either he is too vain to apologise or he means it," said Greens leader Katharina Droege.

Merz has also faced criticism from the Social Democrats, a coalition partner whose general secretary, Tim Kluessendorf, accused him of sowing "division" and "destroying trust". 

"I expect more of a head of government," Kluessendorf said.

MERZ'S DILEMMA

The criticism highlights a dilemma for Merz as he tries to see off the growing challenge posed by the AfD since he became CDU leader in 2022 and chancellor this year.

In the CDU, and in German politics more broadly, there is a debate over whether the far-right is best fought by winning back its voters or by repudiating the AfD's policy of setting the interests of German-born or long-established German citizens against those of immigrants.

Merz's government has highlighted its tougher line on migration, hoping to distance itself from party ally and former Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in 2015 not to stop floods of Syrian refugees from entering Germany.

When he assumed the leadership of the conservatives three years ago, Merz pledged to beat back the AfD. Instead, it is registering its best-ever polling results and is now the second-largest party in parliament.

(Reporting by Natascha Koch, Editing by Thomas Escritt and Timothy Heritage)