The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has told parliament he backs the deportation of violent, foreign-born criminals even if they come from Syria or Afghanistan, as he signalled a more hardline stance three days before Germans vote in European elections.
In a heated debate days after an Afghan asylum seeker allegedly killed a police officer at a far-right rally, Scholz responded on Thursday to accusations by the conservative opposition and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) that his government was lax on deportations.
He told MPs, to applause: “Let me be clear: it outrages me when someone who has sought protection here in our country commits the most serious crimes.
“Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan.”
The Afghan suspect, 25, allegedly fatally stabbed a 29-year-old police officer who was trying to stop him from committing an attack ahead of a political rally in the south-western city of Mannheim.
The suspect arrived in Germany as a teenager in 2013 and, although his claim for asylum was rejected, he was reportedly not deported – initially due to his young age.
The country stopped carrying out deportations to Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban returned to power. It has determined that the precarious security situation in Syria would also prohibit deporting people there.
Migration has dominated the campaign for the European parliament elections – to be held in Germany on Sunday – and Scholz has struggled to maintain the upper hand against fierce criticism from the AfD, which is expected to make gains despite a series of recent scandals.
On Thursday, the chancellor vowed consequences for asylum seekers who “glorify terrorist crimes”. “It is a slap in the face to the victims, their loved ones and our democratic basic order,” he said.
But he warned against using killings such as the one in Mannheim to stir up xenophobia. “Everyone in our country must be able to live without fear of their fellow human beings.”
Scholz said the federal interior ministry was already working on “legally and practically feasible means” to return people convicted of crimes to Afghanistan, and holding talks on the matter with the country’s neighbours.
The proposed changes came in for criticism from within Scholz’s unwieldy three-way coalition. Greens MP Julian Pahlke told Der Spiegel the chancellor’s initiative was “aimless” and unlikely to stand up in court.
German law stipulates that the country does not return asylum seekers to countries where they could face torture, death or other inhumane treatment.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Scholz also went on the attack against the AfD, calling it “embarrassing” that the party had received “high praise” from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The Russian leader told foreign reporters late Wednesday that he saw “no signs of neo-nazism in the activities of the AfD” and that if the party “speaks out in favour of normal relations with our country, with Russia, we only support this”.
German intelligence services have designated the AfD a suspected right-wing extremist organisation, with several of its local branches called “confirmed” extremist.
The centre-right CDU-CSU looks set to claim about 30% in Sunday’s vote, according to a final poll, with the AfD, Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens fighting for a distant second place with between 13 and 16%.