German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) of wanting 'ethnic cleansing', Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
“The term 'remigration' is nothing more than a euphemism for ethnic cleansing based on origin and skin color,” he said during debates in the Bundestag - the lower house of the German parliament - while being frequently interrupted by AfD members.
On Sunday, the pro-Russian and anti-immigrant party won the local vote in the state of Saxony-Anhalt with Nearly 44% - a big lead over Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the previous state premier, who received 17% of the vote.
“If those who work in Germany leave the country because “remigration“ has become a slogan“, several sectors of the economy will no longer function,” the chancellor continued, citing crafts, the social care sector and restaurants in particular.
Merz said this after an offensive speech by AfD co-chair Alice Weidel - who regretted that Germans have to “live with the consequences of mass immigration“.
According to Weidel, it has led to “an increase in crime“ and a large increase in “sexual assaults and acts of brutal violence“.
German crime statistics show an overrepresentation of foreigners in some types of crime, but researchers have long stressed that this data alone is not enough to establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between immigration and crime.
Merz also downplayed the significance of the AfD's electoral success.
"The opposition party's real election goal" - "to win a majority of seats in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament" - was not achieved, and "56 percent of voters in Saxony-Anhalt did not vote for you," he said.
The AfD says it is now negotiating with other groups and representatives in the state parliament to form a government - a process that will take some time.
"You will not secure a majority anywhere in Germany," Merz told Weidel, whose party he accused of that it will remain a “destructive force“.
Weidel opened the debates by declaring that the days of the Merz government “are numbered“.
Merz also accused the AfD of serving alleged attempts to destabilize Germany, recalling the prevented drone attack on Leipzig airport in early August, which was blamed on Moscow.
“You said nothing, Mrs. Weidel, about what happened on August 4th. You are part of the problem that we in Germany are facing,“ he said.