Dispute over the admission of Afghans: Kretschmann is critical

Created: 2022-11-29Updated: 2022-11-29 13:02

Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg.

© Marijan Murat/dpa/archive image

Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) has criticized his own Minister of Justice in the dispute over the new federal admissions program for Afghans who are particularly at risk.

CDU politician Marion Gentges recently wrote in a letter to Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) that, given the tense refugee situation, it was not "responsible" to also take in people from Afghanistan via a special program.

Stuttgart - That surprised him, said Kretschmann on Tuesday in Stuttgart.

"That is not the opinion of the coalition." There was also consensus with the CDU that local staff from Afghanistan should be admitted, said Deputy Prime Minister Thomas Strobl, said Kretschmann.

And: "The numbers that are at stake are further below what we now have access to," he said.

"That doesn't really bother me now, the orders of magnitude that are at stake here."

The federal program provides for the admission of 1,000 people and, according to the state ministry, is aimed at the special group of those who have campaigned for democracy, human rights and women's rights.

dpa