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Friedrich Merz, German chancellor and leader of the center-right CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party, has just spoken a simple truth about the effect on German society of the migrants, overwhelmingly Muslim, now living in Germany. What he said was, under the circumstances, most mild: he noted that those migrants have “caused problems,” especially in German cities. In response, many people, though by no means all, denounced Merz for speaking an obvious truth. More on his remarks can be found here: “Uproar after Merz says migration ’causes problems’ in German cities,” by Chris Gattringer, Brussels Signal, October 17, 2025:
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has caused huge uproar on the German Left with a casual remark about how migration has negatively affected the country’s cities.
Green party MPs accused Merz of “discrimination” and demanded an apology. Sören Pellmann, parliamentary leader of the left-wing Die Linke party, said Merz had “dealt another blow to our democracy.”.
This hysterical reaction reflects the fear of the Greens and the leftists, fear not that what Merz said is false, but that it is true, and voters, having recognized that truth, will vote for the parties that are most alarmed about Muslim migrants in Germany. Those are Merz’s CDU and Alice Weidel’s Alternative für Deutschland.
On October 14, Merz officially visited Potsdam, the capital of the State of Brandenburg. During a press meeting, a journalist asked him what he was doing to counter the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in the polls.
Merz answered: “We have done a lot on migration. Our government has lowered the number [of migrants] by 60 per cent if you compare August 2025 with August 2024. But of course, we still have this problem in our urban landscape [Stadtbild in German]. And that is why the interior minister is busy with enabling deportations.”
To win back those many voters who, out of anxiety over Muslim migration, have been turning to the openly anti-Muslim-migrant party, Alternative fur Deutschland, the ruling CDU of Prime Minister Merz has been adopting such measures as lowering the quote for immigrants by 60%, But there are already seven million Muslims living in Germany, and for those who are illegal, the CDU has committed itself to swift deportation. But nothing has yet been said about deporting legal migrants who have committed crimes. Whether those measures are enough to satisfy those former CDU voters who are now supporting Alternative für Deutschland remains to be seen.
Merz’ spokesman Stefan Kornelius later referred to Merz’s remarks, telling journalists: “I think you interpret too much into it. The Chancellor was merely talking about the change of course in migration policy by the new federal government.”
So Merz, through his spokesman, is already trying to diminish the significance of his own remark about the malign effect of migration on German cities. He ought instead have stuck to his guns and have had his spokesman say that “the chancellor believes that Muslim migrants pose a great challenge for the continued cohesion of our society, and we cannot shirk from dealing with this matter any longer.”
Merz’ comments were also struck from the official record of the press meet-up in Potsdam.
Leftist politicians and journalists still pounced on his comments, accusing him of racism and discrimination. Green MP Helge Limburg wrote on X on October 15: “How else are we to understand this than that Friedrich Merz is complaining about too many non-white people in urban centres? That is unworthy of a Chancellor.”
But Islam is not a race. To be critical of Islam and of those who adhere to its anti-Infidel ideology is not racism. And besides, there are plenty of Muslims who are white, as Helge Limburg well knows.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegener – who is also a member of Merz’ Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, but considered an internal rival of the Chancellor – also distanced himself from Merz’ remarks. saying: “Berlin is a diverse, international city. This will always be visible in the urban landscape. There are problems with violence, garbage and crime, but you cannot pin that on nationality,” he said.
Kai Wegener is wrong. Muslims commit much of the violence and crime in Berlin, as in other German cities. Muslims in Germany engage in crime far more often than non-Muslims. They constitute 6.7% of the population, but 25% of the prison population. Young Muslims rely on street robberies, house burglaries, and drug trafficking to “make ends meet” beyond the sums and subsidies that they receive from the generous German welfare state. When they have certain desires that need satisfying, sexual assault on German girls, wearing what some Muslims interpret as “come-hither” clothing that justifies such assaults, is always a possibility.
