Overview
- The chancellor refused to retract his remark linking perceived cityscape problems to migration and said critics should “ask your daughters,” later declaring the matter clarified and declining further comment.
- Thousands rallied outside CDU headquarters in Berlin, with police citing about 2,000 attendees and organizers 7,500, and activists plan another demonstration in Kiel.
- Within the CDU, Armin Laschet called the wording too nebulous and cautioned it could benefit the AfD, while leaders like Hendrik Wüst, Daniel Günther and Jan Redmann defended addressing public-safety concerns.
- Opposition figures escalated criticism, with SPD’s Ralf Stegner accusing Merz of fueling an “Ausländer-raus” mood, the Greens’ Misbah Khan likening the tone to AfD rhetoric and highlighting 12,000 missing women’s shelter places, and the Left’s Heidi Reichinnek accusing him of instrumentalizing women.
- Journalist Günter Wallraff urged Merz to rethink the language, calling it stigmatizing and warning it could advertise for the AfD.