Overview

• In a BILD interview, former vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel argues Germany could not have sealed its borders in 2015 without military force and possible use of weapons, rejecting hindsight demands as unrealistic or heartless.
• He defends the initial humanitarian response but says Germany later failed to sufficiently control subsequent immigration and to achieve large-scale integration.
• Gabriel criticizes the current government’s tougher turn toward border checks and rejections of asylum seekers, calling it a mistaken overcorrection.
• BILD reports a roughly 60% year-on-year drop in asylum applications in August, even as the AfD remains high in polling.
• Seeking to rebuild trust, he urges a focused agenda that includes an investment pact with business and tying pension increases to inflation, alongside consolidating family support into simpler protections.