The Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag has accused the Federal Ministry of the Interior, led by Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU, of disregarding the rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court. Clara Bünger, a spokesperson from the Left group, stated to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” that “in every case reviewed so far, the decision has been negative. There is no room for speaking of seriously considering individual interests as demanded by Karlsruhe. The scandal surrounding the broken acceptance promises continues.”
According to a government response to an inquiry from the Left Party, which was reported by the newspaper, between the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling on July 22 and September 18, the ministry rejected all 25 cases examined up to that point. The justification provided was that there was no political interest warranting those individuals’ acceptance. The Ministry only released the exact figures after receiving a complaint from the Left Party. Bünger argued that this ongoing practice is unfit for a state governed by rule of law and is simply ‘shameful’ given the tragic circumstances of those affected.
The Constitutional Court had ruled on July 22 that the blanket revocation of prior acceptance offers violates the prohibition of arbitrariness (Case No. 2 BvR 319/26). The court demanded that individual circumstances be considered seriously and weighed against political interests. Crucially, these decisions must be transparent, accountable to parliament, and justifiable in public debate.
The departmental letter that the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” reported on indicated that preliminary case reviews were still pending in at least 40 additional instances. Bünger called on the federal government to “immediately and uncomplicatingly accept the roughly 500 people in question.” In many of these cases, the individuals had already successfully passed security checks and had even been granted visas.
