Has Germany's welcome culture failed?
Twelve days after New Year's Eve the debate about the attacks in Cologne continues. Warning voices stress that the left in particular must not ignore the citizens' fears. Others call for Angela Merkel to resign to avoid putting Europe in danger.
Germany without a plan
The attacks in Cologne are the consequence of misguided policies, the national-conservative daily Neatkarīgā believes:
“Germany, and other EU countries too, have no clear concept for how to deal with the new reality. In addition to the unfortunate refugees, hordes of degenerates are now flooding into Germany, France and other dream destinations: people who Europe simply doesn't have the capacity to integrate. And the refugee quotas thought up by Jean-Claude Juncker are so obtuse - and dangerous - that the Latvian government was the only one that didn't protest against them. The plan must be scrapped and the flood of people flowing to Europe from North Africa and the Middle East must be stopped.”
Merkel must go
After the incidents in Cologne Angela Merkel must resign before she causes any further damage with her failed refugee policy, the daily Standart rails:
“If you believe that an aging, secularized, heretofore-mostly-homogeneous society is likely to peacefully absorb a migration of that size and scale of cultural difference, then you have a bright future as a spokesman for the current German government. You’re also a fool. Such a transformation promises increasing polarization among natives and new arrivals alike. It threatens not just a spike in terrorism but a rebirth of 1930s-style political violence. It means giving up the fond illusion that Germany’s past sins can be absolved with a reckless humanitarianism in the present. It means that Angela Merkel must go - so that her country, and the continent it bestrides, can avoid paying too high a price for her high-minded folly.”
Government should focus on its citizens now
To prevent the attacks in Cologne from leading to a shift to the right the German left must be more open to people's fears, the centre-left daily The Independent believes:
“Even if the far-right is using the Cologne attacks for their agenda, it doesn't mean ordinary people don't have legitimate concerns. It isn't enough to say that German women faced sexual assault from white German men too, one doesn't excuse the other. … If the Left ignores the concerns of ordinary Germans after the Cologne attacks, that would be far worse for everyone, including refugees. It would let the far-right set the agenda and gain more public support. The first priority of any government is the well-being of its citizens, and the German government cannot be blamed if it focuses on that.”
German welcome culture disappearing
If appearances are anything to go by Germany's "culture of welcoming" refugees is on its last legs, the liberal business paper Hospodářské noviny comments, speculating on what this will mean for the chancellor:
“Once again, quite a few are predicting Angela Merkel's downfall. Now she has announced the swift deportation of those who took part in the chaotic events in Cologne. But otherwise she doesn't want to change a thing and is now calling for calm and patience. Qualities, it must be said, for which society has little enthusiasm at the moment. It would not take much for Merkel to have the rug pulled out from under her in the state elections. That said, Merkel is now far more than just a politician: she's a symbol. With her departure at the very least the Schengen Area would collapse if Germany and the other states reintroduce border controls. And in general the entire continent would give free rein to a culture of fear.”
Global perspectives: Germany must give up reckless humanitarianism
The attacks on women on New Year's Eve were just a foretaste of things to come, the liberal daily the New York Times is convinced:
“A transformation promises increasing polarization among natives and new arrivals alike. It threatens not just a spike in terrorism but a rebirth of 1930s-style political violence. … This need not happen. But prudence requires doing everything possible to prevent it. That means closing Germany's borders to new arrivals for the time being. It means beginning an orderly deportation process for able-bodied young men. It means giving up the fond illusion that Germany's past sins can be absolved with a reckless humanitarianism in the present. It means that Angela Merkel must go - so that her country, and the continent it bestrides, can avoid paying too high a price for her high-minded folly.”