Merkel Distances Herself from Roland Koch’s Strident Rhetoric on Immigration
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has distanced herself from the strident immigration rhetoric of her fellow conservative Roland Koch in a lengthy news conference aimed at calming down an increasingly fractious debate that has opened rifts in her government.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried on Tuesday to defuse a fierce debate about immigration that has poisoned the atmosphere between conservatives and Social Democrats in her grand coalition.

At a hastily convened news conference, Merkel defended Hesse state governor Roland Koch, whose call for a crackdown on "criminal young foreigners" has been labelled as xenophobic and divisive by immigrant groups and members of the Social Democrats.

But she distanced herself from Koch's rhetoric. She stressed that her government had increased funding for programs to combat crime by far-right German youths, and said she was concerned about all forms of youth crime -- be it committed by Germans or immigrants. Merkel Tries To Calm Tensions Over Immigration >>> By David Crossland in Berlin

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Germany’s NPD Praises Koch’s Tough Talk on Immigration
SPIEGELONLINE INTRERNATIONAL: State governor Roland Koch's latest comments on immigration include helpful tips for foreigners: Don't slaughter animals in the kitchen and dispose of your garbage properly. The far-right NPD party has praised him and called for Germany to rid itself of foreign criminals.

German state governor Roland Koch, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, has won praise from the far-right National Democratic Party for his campaign against "criminal young foreigners" (more...) and his calls for immigrants to embrace German values.

The NPD, which states that an "African, Asian or Oriental" can never become German, said Koch's comments provided "impetus to at last take political action in response to the frighteningly high proportion of foreign and foreign-born violent criminals."

"Germany must remain the land of the Germans, so that our children don't suffer the same fate as the (American) Indians who were unable to stop the immigrants and now live on reservations," Peter Marx, general secretary of the NPD, said in a statement. Far-Right NPD Praises Koch’s Tough Talk on Immigration >>> By David Crossland

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

”Wer sich als Ausländer nicht an unsere Regeln hält, ist hier fehl am Platze”, so Ministerpräsident Roland Koch
DIE PRESSE: Der hessische Ministerpräsident Roland Koch kritisiert "multi-kulturelle Verblendung". Er fordert: "Wir müssen Schluss machen mit bestimmten Lebenslügen".

Nach dem brutalen Überfall auf einen Pensionisten in der Münchner U-Bahn hat sich der hessische Ministerpräsident Roland Koch (CDU) besorgt über die Kriminalität von jungen Ausländern in Deutschland geäußert. "Wir haben zu viele kriminelle junge Ausländer", sagte Koch in einem Interview mit der "Bild"-Zeitung (Freitag-Ausgabe).

"Multi-kulturelle Verblendung"

Zugleich machte der CDU-Politiker eine seiner Ansicht nach verfehlte Integrationspolitik mitverantwortlich für Gewaltausbrüche jugendlicher Ausländer. "Null Toleranz gegen Gewalt muss ganz früh beginnen und Bestandteil unserer Integrationspolitik sein", sagte Koch gegenüber der Zeitung. Bis vor kurzem seien "in multi-kultureller Verblendung" Verhaltensweisen toleriert worden, die inzwischen zu hoch explosiven Gruppen-Aggressionen führen könnten.

"Wir müssen Schluss machen mit bestimmten Lebenslügen. Die deutsche Position in der Integrationspolitik war lange leider nicht klar genug", erklärte Koch. Deutschland: "Wir haben zu viele kriminelle junge Ausländer" >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)