Ten years after former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s widely recognized statement “We can do it” during the 2015 refugee crisis, a leading figure in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has offered a critical assessment of the integration outcomes.
Carsten Linnemann, the CDU’s General Secretary, stated in an interview that, since 2015, 6.5 million people have arrived in Germany, but less than half are currently employed. He expressed dissatisfaction with this figure, suggesting a need for a revised approach from the current governing coalition.
Linnemann emphasized the importance of curbing irregular migration into social welfare systems and, instead, prioritizing and facilitating skilled labor immigration to bolster the workforce. He articulated this as the policy direction the government should pursue moving forward and believes it’s a course already being charted.
Merkel’s original statement, delivered on August 31st, 2015, came amid a significant influx of refugees, particularly from Syria. The complete quote reads: “I simply say: Germany is a strong country. The motivation with which we approach these things must be: We have achieved so much – we can do it. We can do it and where something stands in our way, it must be overcome, must be worked on. The federal government will do everything in its power – together with the states, together with the municipalities – to enforce exactly that”.
