Talks on "Germany Pact" without preconditions

Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer wants to talk without preconditions about the "Germany Pact" proposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to modernize the country. Out of civic responsibility, one should say yes to such talks and also not set any preconditions, the CDU politician said Wednesday evening on ARD's "Tagesthemen." "We should be involved in this," Kretschmer stressed. About the proposal, the prime ministers of the countries also wanted to talk at their conference in Brussels, which lasts until Thursday.

First topics should be here questions of migration and the energy crisis. Kretschmer stressed the urgency of curbing irregular migration. "The number is too high. We can't afford it like this. And we have to act here," he warned. The demands of the conference of interior ministers, he said, range from designating more safe countries of origin to facilitate repatriation, to border controls, to centers to house multiple and intensive offenders who cannot be deported. "They can't move around freely after all," Kretschmer said. All of these things, he said, can only be done by the federal government. He said he was very much in favor of clarifying this on a bipartisan basis.