- Immigrant Times
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
German Chancellor’s comments on urban diversity and deportations sparked political outrage
The leader of the Green Party: “The remarks by Friedrich Merz are dangerous and unworthy. He questions whether people with a migration background really belong in Germany.”
By The Immigrant Times

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sparked outrage when he seemed to suggest that the country’s high streets were not German enough.
October 2025: When German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke in the City of Potsdam earlier this month (October 2025), he likely did not expect one phrase to dominate the headlines. “Of course, we still have this problem in the cityscape,” Merz said, referring to migration. “That is why the Federal Minister of the Interior is now working to enable and carry out repatriations on a very large scale.”
The German original: “Aber wir haben natürlich immer im Stadtbild noch dieses Problem, und deswegen ist der Bundesinnenminister ja auch dabei, jetzt in sehr großem Umfang auch Rückführungen zu ermöglichen und durchzuführen.”
The phrase immediately sparked outrage, with critics accusing Merz of portraying immigrants as a visual problem, something that disturbs the aesthetic of German cities.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Chancellor since 2024, has long advocated a tougher line on migration. His government has made deportations and border enforcement a central priority, arguing that Germany must regain control after years of rising asylum numbers.
But with this single phrase, ‘problem in the cityscape’, Merz struck a deep emotional chord. To many, it suggested that people with migrant backgrounds are not just administratively inconvenient but visibly unwelcome.
The reaction was swift. Katharina Dröge, from the Green Party, asked pointedly: “What exactly is the problem in the cityscape? The colour of people’s skin? Their clothing? Their faith?”
Felix Banaszak, co-leader of the Green Party, called the remark deeply disrespectful and unworthy of the Chancellor, demanding a public apology. “When the Chancellor of all Germans concludes from a cityscape that further deportations are necessary, he is sending out a disastrous signal. This is disrespectful, dangerous and unworthy of a head of government. He questions whether people with a migration background really belong to Germany, even if they were born here, live here, work here and pay taxes here. Friedrich Merz must apologise.”
Politicians from The Left Party (Die Linke) accused Merz of legitimising resentment through imagery, warning that his words blurred the line between mainstream conservatism and far-right populism.
Friedrich Merz was also criticised by members of his own party. Kai Wegner, the Mayor of Berlin and a member of Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU), has distanced himself from the statement made by the Chancellor. “Berlin, like most other German cities, is a diverse, international and cosmopolitan city,” Wegener told Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper. “This makes urban landscapes such exciting places.”
German media outlets echoed these criticisms. Der Spiegel called Merz’s statement “a dangerous slip into the language of exclusion,” while Die Zeit argued that it “reduces human beings to visual disturbances in the national picture.”
For many Germans with immigrant roots, the remark hit even harder. “He’s talking about us, about our faces, our families, our neighbourhoods,” said a member of Berlin’s Turkish community. “We are part of this cityscape.”
Within the conservative camp, however, Merz found defenders. Michael Kretschmer, CDU state premier of Saxony, insisted that critics were misrepresenting the Chancellor’s intent. “He was talking about the visible consequences of failed integration, not about people’s skin colour,” Kretschmer said.
Supporters argue that Merz was addressing legitimate concerns about social cohesion, crime, and housing shortages, issues that have grown increasingly politicised amid rising migration. They see the backlash as proof that public discourse in Germany has become hypersensitive and detached from everyday worries.
When asked about the connection Merz made between deportations and the cityscape, German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius tried to smooth things over. “I think people are reading too much into it. Merz has always made it clear that, in his view, migration policy should not be about exclusion, but about uniformly regulated immigration.”
Some commentators saw strategic calculation: With the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) surging in polls, particularly in eastern Germany, Merz’s rhetoric may be an attempt to reclaim voters who feel alienated by liberal immigration policies.
Germany has received millions of migrants and refugees over the past decade, from Syrians fleeing war to Ukrainians escaping Russia’s invasion. While many have integrated successfully, challenges remain: housing shortages, pressure on welfare systems, and debates about cultural identity.
At the same time, xenophobic violence and anti-immigrant sentiment have been on the rise. For critics, Merz’s phrasing risks feeding these tendencies, even unintentionally, by reducing diversity to a matter of “what the city looks like.”
Others counter that Germany must be allowed to discuss migration openly, including its visual and cultural impact, without being accused of racism. It’s a delicate balance that German politics has struggled to maintain since the refugee crisis of 2015.
As an editorial in Süddeutsche Zeitung put it, “When a leader describes diversity as a problem in the cityscape, he is not talking about policy, he is talking about belonging.” Merz’s defenders say he merely misspoke. His critics say he revealed more than he intended.
Further reading: Foreign nationals in German states and cities || Teaching refugees in Germany || Apprenticeship discrimination in Germany ||
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