On Sunday large numbers of German voters in three state elections gave their support to an anti-migrant party called the Alternative for Germany. What, one wonders, was their alternative for the more than a million refugees who have been given shelter in Germany by Chancellor Angela Merkel?
It is to be suspected that the likely answer from those who voted against Merkel’s Christian Democrat in these three German states is that it is not their problem. The fate of Syrians who have been driven from their homes by a brutal civil war is not Germany’s concern.
It is interesting that at no point in the anti-immigration debate has anyone from the “Alternatif für Deutschland” party sought to analyze from where the refugees come. Afghanistan and Iraq are both countries in the grip of bitter wars but in neither is the conflict so terrible that the majority of people would wish to flee their homes for an uncertain future in a foreign country.
In Pakistan, although the army is fighting against Taliban insurgents in the northwest borderlands, there is really little or no justification for a mass outflow of refugees. Therefore an argument could be made that a proportion of those fleeing to Europe are economic not political refugees.
That the AFD does not bother to push forward this justification for its anti-immigration stance proves clearly that it is a racist party pure and simple. And as the strong minority support of this party demonstrates, it is not simply crew-cut young thugs in leather jackets who are its voters. Footage of post-election celebrations showed well-fed, solid burghers roaring their enthusiasm as the results came in. They have found a polite, politically correct way to unleash their innate bigotry and racism.
All of this is abhorrent. If Merkel’s enemies have their way, the refugee issue will drive her from power at next year’s general election if not indeed sooner than that. There is already pressure from within her own party and her Christian Social Union of Bavaria and Social Democrat coalition partners to change tack.
The concern is not simply the survival of the government but also of Germany’s leading role within Europe. If Merkel is seen as seriously, possibly fatally weakened domestically, her voice will count for less in Europe. And Germany’s voice has arguably been the most effective in maintaining EU unity at a time when it has never been more widely challenged.
But even a single week can be a long time in politics and Oct. 22, 2017 when all Germans will vote for a new federal government seems far, far away. Merkel remains hugely respected as a politician. State elections have in the past attracted protest votes against a sitting government from an electorate, which nevertheless swung back behind it when it came to a general election. Nor should it be forgotten that Merkel won a landslide victory in 2013 with 41.5 percent of vote.
Merkel has done the right thing over refugees. But she has clearly not convinced every German to see the crisis her way. She must redouble her efforts to tell Germans that they should be proud of welcoming so many people who have nowhere else to go. History will undoubtedly record the debt of gratitude that Syrians owe Germany.
