The Greens’ Bundestag faction has lodged a complaint before the Federal Constitutional Court against the recently introduced statutory power that allows the federal government to name “safe origin states” by regulation. In the so‑called “organic complaint” the Greens argue that Article 19 of the Basic Law assigns such decisions solely to the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. According to a 62‑page claim reported by “Der Spiegel”, the Greens have already submitted the complaint in Karlsruhe.
This week the cabinet adopted a regulation that classifies Albania, Bosnia‑Herzegovina, Georgia, Ghana, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Senegal and Serbia as safe origin states. The regulation will take effect on 1 February 2026, after which asylum claims from these countries can be rejected more quickly. “Safe origin country” is a designation for states where, in the view of the legislator, state‑based persecution is basically absent and human rights are largely respected.
Irene Mihalic, the first parliamentary manager of the Greens’ faction, told “Der Spiegel” on Tuesday that the party would not accept what she calls the “constitutionally unlawful shrinkage of the Bundestag”. She said that, while authoritarian regimes brag about acting without respecting law, they must fully uphold the rule of law.
Greens legal spokesman Till Steffen added that the consequences of the asylum‑law change are clear. He warned that Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) would declare Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria as safe origin states-despite the persecution of political opposition, journalists and queer people-and he would do so without a parliamentary debate.
