After announcing a few days ago that Germany would continue to accept asylum seekers from Italy, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Fesser today advocated stricter controls at the European Union’s external borders in the Mediterranean, also due to the arrival of thousands of migrants in Lampedusa.

Internally, municipalities and communities complain that they cannot accept more refugees, while former Federal President Joachim Gauck speaks of a “loss of control” and calls for a bold change in the government’s immigration policy.

“The control of the EU’s external borders in the Mediterranean must be tightened. There is no other way to bring the situation under control.”Ms. Fezer said earlier today on public television ARD, also supporting yesterday’s position of the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen from Lampedusa.

The interior minister refused however his proposal of Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Zender for imposing a cap on the entry of immigrants into Germany, arguing that “permanent immigration control is only possible at the European level”. Mr Zender, three weeks before the state elections in Bavaria, he called for a cap on immigration at 200,000 per year.

In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Markus Zender called for the number of asylum seekers in Germany to be limited to 200,000 per year. “We can no longer keep up on housing and schools, so we need a stable reference point,” he stressed.

In the same spirit Christian Democratic Party (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz said in an interview which granted to TV stations Pro7 and Sat1 that “the proposal for designing a frame is correct.” If things continue like this, he warned, “a lot will blow up in our faces in this country.”

“Mr. Mertz and Mr. Zender are misleading the public by claiming that Germany could control the problem alone”, Mrs. Fezer pointed out, commenting on the proposal. “What will we do if 200,001 people come? Are we going to deny entry, which is actually provided for by the Constitution?”, said the representative of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) for internal policy matters, Sebastian Hartmann, in an interview with the newspaper Die Welt.

They support the proposal of the Bavarian Prime Minister many German municipalities, which complain that it is currently practically impossible to integrate immigrants who have arrived in recent months and they ask for a reduction in the number, an increase in funds and new positions in accommodation centers and schools.

“Something must finally be done, no longer with words, but with actions. If we continue like this, the cohesion of our society will be destroyed”he stated to Tagesspiegel newspaper the president of the German Regional Council Reinhard Jagger.

The former Federal President also intervened in the public confrontation Joachim Gauckin an interview with ARD: “Politics must dare to explore new possibilities and recognize that the measures taken so far have not been enough to correct the loss of control, which is obvious. We need new determination, which gives the world a sense that those in power are willing and able to act. And this requires a discussion of new ways, not just a tightening of the screw, as the EU is currently trying to do,” said Mr. Gauck, noting that “democracy in Germany is currently in a phase of shocking uncertainty, so This is why we should think in ways that may have been unimaginable at one time.”

The Social Democratic mayors of Krefeld, Gladbeck, Herne describe a situation similar to that of 2015added the former President, to emphasize: “We are at the limit of our capabilities and now there is a danger that the wonderful solidarity of citizens that existed until now will disappear. People fear that too many things in their lives have changed unacceptably. That’s why I came to the conclusion that it may not be morally reprehensible and it is even politically necessary to pursue a containment strategywhich at first seems like a restriction of the rights of people who want to come to us (…) This conversation needs to be had – and no longer just on the right-wing fringes. If people have the impression that those in power do not understand that we need clarity and securitythen there will be a further turn to the right (…) Our hearts are big, but our capabilities are limited.”