Hesse's Prime Minister Rhein calls for a debate about the German cityscape

After the AfD's recent election successes, Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) has called for the cityscape debate initiated by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) to be continued last year.

The debate was right, Rhein told Bild am Sonntag. However, according to Rhein, it was said “hastyly” that this shouldn’t be discussed. “Yes, we have to discuss it, and in the end we have to learn lessons from it,” said Rhein.

Merz said about a year ago that the federal government was correcting previous failings in migration policy, and then said: "But of course we still have this problem in the cityscape." He later explained that he meant migrants without permanent residence status who didn't work and didn't follow the rules.

Rhine for open debate

According to Rhein, the migration crisis has been addressed with great strides, but has not yet been resolved. There are problems with immigration into the social systems and with crime among immigrants.

»It doesn't make any sense to hide these topics behind a firewall or never discuss them again. “It doesn’t make them disappear,” said Rhein. When asked what he expected from the Chancellor, he said: "As a centrist party, we must regain sovereignty over the everyday questions of ordinary people."