BERLIN

Germany reported a 37% drop in asylum applications in January after implementing stricter border control measures across its frontiers.


Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced on Tuesday that unauthorized border crossings also decreased by 25% last month, following the government's implementation of temporary border controls and accelerated returns of unauthorized migrants.


“This shows once again that our measures are working. While others resort to empty slogans and symbolic politics, we have implemented effective measures,” the Social Democrat minister said, criticizing the main opposition Christian Democrats for advancing populist proposals ahead of the Feb. 23 elections to curb irregular migration.


“We have taken concrete action with controls at all German borders and introduced laws that allow faster returns and speed up the asylum process. We are committed to law, order and humanity - in close coordination with our European partners, not against them. We will continue consistently down this path,” she said.


Last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats strongly criticized the opposition Christian Democrats for submitting a motion that called for permanent border controls and the rejection of irregular migrants and asylum seekers at German borders.


The contentious motion narrowly passed parliament on Wednesday with support from the far-right AfD party, drawing criticism that the Christian Democrats had broken their longstanding policy of not cooperating with right-wing extremists.



CDU steps up anti-immigration push


Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader and chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz dismissed criticisms while accusing the co-ruling Social Democrats and Greens of failing to control irregular migration—an issue he claimed poses serious risks to domestic security.


During CDU's party convention on Monday, delegates approved a 15-point “immediate program” on immigration, domestic security, and the economy, which the party aims to implement swiftly after coming to power after the elections.


The plan proposes several measures – establishing permanent controls across German borders, rejecting undocumented migrants at entry points, speeding up deportation of foreign criminals, halting family reunification for foreigners with subsidiary protection status, and giving federal police more power to detain individuals awaiting deportation.


Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a Green party member, criticized the Christian Democrats on Tuesday for proposing populist measures that she said violate EU law and risk damaging relationships with neighboring EU countries.


“If we want lasting solutions, we need European cooperation, not populist slogans. The Christian Democrats must address this substantively, rather than recklessly endangering European agreements,” she told the daily Tagesspiegel.



CDU/CSU leads pre-election polls


Recent polls show the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, led by Merz, maintains a strong lead in voter support.


The latest Forsa poll released Tuesday shows the CDU/CSU alliance at 28% support—down two percentage points from last week. Despite this commanding lead, Christian Democrats would need to form a coalition with another party to secure a governing majority.


The far-right AfD stands at 20%, while Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) holds 16%. The Greens have gained one percentage point, reaching 15%.


In the battle for parliamentary seats, the socialist Die Linke party polls at 5%, barely meeting the threshold for parliamentary representation. Both the left-wing populist BSW and the liberal FDP trail at 4%.