Overview
- About 30 scholarship recipients exited as Friedrich Merz began speaking at the Talisman-Preis hosted by the Deutschlandstiftung Integration in Berlin, where he serves as patron.
- They wore stickers reading “Wir sind das Stadtbild” and posed for a group photo in the foyer during his remarks.
- They returned to the auditorium only after roughly 20 minutes when the speech concluded.
- In a conciliatory address, Merz praised the awardees as role models, affirmed that Germany is an immigration country, and said migration must be managed.
- The walkout followed his mid-October line about seeing “this problem in the cityscape,” which he later said referred to migrants without permanent status who do not work or follow rules; he has also drawn separate criticism for a recent Brazil-related comment.