“Germany and Italy are at the limit of their endurance,” warned Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and called for “a fairer distribution and strict surveillance of the European Union’s external borders” in order to limit the burden on the two countries from receiving migrants . Inside Germany, the immigration debate is escalating, with more and more states declaring their inability to accept more refugees and the opposition calling for solutions based on the “Denmark model”.

“The two countries are carrying a heavy burden and I take very seriously the loud cries for help from both Italy and German cities,” Mr. Steinmeier said in an interview with Corriere della Sera during the official visit he is making to Italy. Yesterday, Wednesday, President Steinmeier and his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella visited Syracuse, Sicily, where many of the migrants arriving in Lampedusa are taken. “The number of arrivals must be reduced. We must work united and focused in order to reach humanitarian and long-term sustainable European solutions”, said the German President and advocated a permanent arrangement for the distribution of refugees within the EU. “A permanent solidarity mechanism must also be created so that no there is only voluntary solidarity”, he added, while underlining the need “to deal decisively with the criminal activity of smugglers”.

On the federal government’s side, deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Buchner avoided commenting directly on the President’s assessment of Germany “at the limits of its endurance” and said that “the large number of arrivals requires a great national effort.” The federal government, state governments and local structures “share the burden and must work together for common solutions,” he added.

Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelof (Left) was added today to the long list of local government prime ministers protesting the excessive burden on their states from the new arrivals of asylum seekers. “The state and the municipalities are at their limits. The original reception center in the city of Zul has long housed more than is considered acceptable. Normally it should accommodate 800 people and we already have over 1,000, while we continue to have a large number of arrivals as well,” Mr. Rameloff told the Rheinische Post, once again rejecting suggestions for permanent controls on the eastern border. At the same time, referring to the high percentages of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the state, he highlighted the need to dispel the impression that “they are all Nazis in the east”. “We must not allow the thread of our dialogue with the citizens to be cut. It is not the AfD that has the solutions to their problems,” he stressed.

The Christian Democratic Party (CDU), which is under strong pressure from the far-right, with immigration as a tipping point, recommends the Danish model as an appropriate refugee policy for Germany. The leader of the Youth party (JU) Johannes Winkler, in an interview with the BILD newspaper, asks to study the policy followed by Denmark since 2015 – “and even by a socialist government”. In this spirit, Mr. Winkler calls for the imposition of a 30% upper limit on school classes for students with an immigrant background, the stay in special centers of immigrants whose asylum application has been rejected, until they return to their country, a review of benefits, with a transition from cash benefits to in-kind benefits and compulsory registration of children in daycare centers from one year of age. “Denmark follows an immigration and integration policy which could be a model for Germany as well,” said the Christian Democrat politician.

On a different note, Greens leader Omid Nuripour rejected proposals to impose a cap on the number of asylum seekers Germany accepts and called for quick solutions to immigration, with extra financial support from the federation to municipalities and reinforcements with staff for schools and the nurseries. “Instead of talking about a ceiling, we should better talk about a load limit. They are two completely different things,” he stressed, speaking to the private television station n-tv.