Merz calls opposition's remigration plan ethnic cleansing, sparking heated Bundestag clash

In the most vociferous moment of the Bundestag’s general debate, Friedrich Merz described the opposition’s remigration concept as ethnic cleansing, a statement that sparked intense interjections from AfD deputies and applause from CDU and left-wing members. Bundestag president Julia Klöner warned that any further similar conduct would lead to the AfD faction’s removal from the plenary. The comment was widely criticized; historians such as Andreas Rödder and Michael Wolffsohn, both linked to the CDU, said the term historically denotes violent expulsions, like those during the early-1990s Yugoslav conflict, and does not apply to the AfD’s policy, which calls for lawful deportation of non-compliant foreigners.

Media figures labeled the remarks a verbal excess. The episode highlighted deep divisions over migration policy in Germany.