A recent government report already shows a clear decline in net immigration and asylum applications for 2024. The federal administration therefore prefers not to dispute the origin of its announced “migration turnaround”.
Deputy government spokesperson Steffen Meyer said on Wednesday in Berlin to the dts news agency, “I don’t know if arguing over that is really worthwhile”. He added that, through recent weeks and months of policy measures, heightened border checks and a few new laws, the current federal government has indeed set this shift in motion.
“Still, the numbers are clearly falling, and that is right and good” Meyer explained. He declined to get into the debate over “producer pride” or who started what, emphasizing that the trend is unmistakable.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) had in the past claimed the “migration turnaround” for himself. A spokesperson for the ministry said on Wednesday that the migration report confirms the trajectory the new federal government has pursued since taking office. The new government has been in power since May 2025, while the report covers the previous year under the traffic‑light coalition.
