Christian Lindner, FDP’s top candidate, sets out vision for German economy, refugee policy
“I don’t think we can maintain a military deployment in Afghanistan over the long term,” said Christian Lindner, the chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), in an interview with Deutsche Welle’s editor-in-chief Ines Pohl and TV presenter Jaafar Abdul-Karim. The classical liberal FDP’s top candidate for the Bundestag elections on September 24 justified his stance by asserting that the set goals have not been achieved. He said that perhaps the goal of making Afghanistan a Western-oriented, market-based democracy may have been too ambitious, both culturally and socially, in the planned timeframe.
The international military mission, led by the United States, has been running for 16 years now. At the beginning of this week, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would send more troops to Afghanistan. Lindner told Deutsche Welle, “I do not believe such a deployment would be opportune for the Bundeswehr.”
The 38-year-old did not mince words on other controversial matters. With regard to Turkey, he said that after recent events, “all economic cooperation between Germany and Turkey should be frozen.” Lindner specifically proposed to not grant any export guarantees and not hold any talks about duty exemption. “We at least owe the Turkish opposition that,” he said. Since the failed coup in July 2016, several thousands of people have been imprisoned and the freedom of press severely restricted. Just recently, the Turkish-born writer Dogan Akhanli was temporarily detained by Spanish police after Turkey issued an Interpol arrest warrant. The 60-year-old has German citizenship and lives in the German city of Cologne.
Read more: FDP’s feisty Christian Lindner, the king of kingmakers
Proposes refugee policy revamp
Lindner harshly criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy. He said that the asylum application process is taking to too long. In order to speed it up, he suggested a new status be created, which provides the refugees temporary humanitarian protection. After their identity has been confirmed, the refugees would be granted a residence permit and would have immediate access to the labor market. “But,” he concluded, “residence permits are strictly limited in duration. When peace returns to their countries of origin, they do as a rule have to leave Germany.”
Linder’s proposals for an improved refugee policy are part of his vision of future immigration policy. The FDP chairman told Deutsche Welle that Germany is a country of immigration. “But we have to clearly define the ways of entering Germany.” Lindner spoke of four doors. “The first door is called asylum.” He stated that it is a basic, individual right, for which there should not be any restrictions. This applies to very few people “who are really persons persecuted as individuals.”
Lindner’s second door is designated “refugee.” This label refers to people who are fleeing war and violence – not individual persecution. DW’s editor-in-chief, Ines Pohl, wanted to know if there was a limit on the number of refugees allowed in the country. Lindner replied, “There is a cap, which is determined by capacities and how you can meet the peoples’ needs.” However, the FDP boss did not want to state any figures for the elections.
Lindner proposed a “four-door” policy for immigration into Germany
The third door in his future immigration policy is labeled “qualified immigration,” which is a targeted selection of people who are allowed to enter Germany. “We decide who can come, depending on language skills, qualifications, and so on and so forth,” explained Lindner. The fourth and last door stays closed, he said. Those who are not entitled to asylum, are not a refugee, or are not a qualified immigrant “cannot come to Germany, and cannot stay here.”
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Party prospects
The elections and subsequent coalition negotiations will obviously determine whether Lindner’s FDP can implement its ideas in a future German government. At the moment, polls have the FDP at eight percent – the same as the Green Party and the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD). The left-wing party, Die Linke, is at nine percent. The battle for third place in the German Bundestag is suspenseful at the moment, as none of the parties have the support they need to form a coalition with the alliance of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). In the past weeks, Lindner has often indicated that he could imagine a prominent role in the opposition, and if possible, as opposition leader, of course.
Lindner defended previous comments about the Crimea situation
The FDP does not currently sit in the German Bundestag. If the party wins enough seats to enter parliament again, and even ends up at the coalition bargaining table after September 24, Lindner would like to return to the “tradition of German detente.” He mentioned this in the DW interview after his previous controversial remarks about Russia’s annexation of Crimea. “I’m afraid that for the time being, [the current situation in] Crimea must be looked at as a permanent provisional situation”, he told the German newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, thus drawing much criticism in Germany – but approval from Russia.
In the DW interview, Lindner defended his approach. He emphasized that the annexation of Crimea violated international law. But he also said that German detente policy is “always a two-pronged approach: toughness and willingness to talk.”
The last part of the interview had a much lighter tone, with Lindner being asked which of the other parties’ top candidates he would take to a deserted island. The head of the FDP chose the Green Party’s Cem Ozdemir. Like Lindner, Ozdemir was awarded a (satirical) medal “Knight against Dead Seriousness” by Aachen’s Carnival Association, so Lindner knows that Ozdemir has a sense of humor. “And we would at least have something to laugh about – even if it were only about each other,” he quipped.