Germany, under the leadership of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is seeking to take the lead in Europe’s anti-immigration movement.

According to an analysis in POLITICO, the new government’s sharp change in its stance on immigration appears set to accelerate the EU’s hard “shift to the right” on the issue.

The EU is preparing to implement a series of new measures aimed at significantly reducing the number of asylum seekers entering Europe and deporting more of those who apply for asylum.

As European leaders negotiate how to implement these measures, the leaders of some of the EU’s most hardline countries are welcoming Germany’s new role.

“Germany is taking the lead in some of these very important discussions. We are pleased about that,” Danish Migration Minister Kaare Dybvad told POLITICO.

In this context, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt hosted ministers from several European countries with tough stances on immigration, such as Austria, Denmark, and Poland, on the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in the Bavarian Alps, which has a golden cross at its summit.

“We want to make it clear that Germany is no longer applying the brakes on migration in Europe but is now part of the driving force,” Dobrindt stated at an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters.

This message was also positively received in Brussels. “If Germany contributes more, if it is more decisive, that would be very, very positive, because then we would make faster progress. Therefore, I am very pleased that the German government has chosen this path and strongly supports the implementation of the proposals put forward by the Commission,” EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner told POLITICO during the summit in Bavaria.

Germany’s newfound willingness to lead Europe’s anti-immigration front removes a significant obstacle to European countries implementing policy proposals that were, until recently, considered unacceptable.

These include plans to deport migrants to third countries and process asylum applications outside the EU. These plans are modeled on the UK’s failed Rwanda plan, which Merz had previously praised, calling it “something we can take as an example.”

Although the shift in Germany’s immigration policy began under the previous traffic light coalition government, Merz’s new coalition is pursuing a much tougher path under increasing pressure from the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) to prevent conservative voters from shifting further to the right.

“In recent years, Germany was one of the main countries within the EU defending the post-war asylum system. With Germany joining the other [hardline] member states, the balance of Europe’s mainstream migration policy is shifting to the right,” said Ravenna Sohst, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.

Germany’s change of stance does not mean that Europe is now united on immigration. In fact, internal divisions persist over the implementation of strict asylum rules.

Although European leaders agreed on a framework to tighten asylum rules in a historic agreement two years ago, the details for the plan’s implementation next year have not yet been finalized.

Discussions continue on mandatory burden-sharing and the relocation of asylum seekers within the bloc, as well as on asylum procedures beyond the EU’s external borders.

On these issues, the interests of Southern and Northern European countries do not always align. The previous coalition, led by former Chancellor Olaf Scholz, had taken on a mediating role between countries like Greece and Italy and the leaders of more northern countries.

While Greece and Italy sought more assistance from Europe to manage the influx of asylum seekers arriving on their shores, the governments of more northern countries wanted to prevent asylum seekers from leaving Southern Europe and coming to their countries.

Within this dynamic, Merz could advocate much more forcefully for the interests of Central and Northern European countries.

Migration experts say the Zugspitze meeting, which Southern European leaders did not attend, illustrates this point very well.

“Germany had always supported a very European approach. The Zugspitze summit shows that they are forming key groups within the EU that have greater weight in negotiations and in the Council and are pushing to get important positions accepted. This is also very strategic in terms of the countries they have chosen; for example, bringing France and Denmark [which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency] to their side,” says Sohst.

Germany’s shift in immigration policy coincides with a period when the number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe is decreasing for various reasons, though it remains high by historical standards.

Therefore, Merz’s coalition, fearing the AfD, has taken a series of controversial immigration measures since coming to power in May. The government has suspended family reunification for hundreds of thousands of people living in Germany, including many migrants from Syria, and has suspended the resettlement program for vulnerable Afghans.

“Rhetorically, things have gotten tougher, and the policies have gotten tougher too,” says Victoria Rietig, a migration expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations.

However, divisions within Merz’s coalition could still derail his plans to continue on this path.

Many members of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is in power with the conservatives, are uncomfortable with Merz’s moves on immigration, even though they theoretically agreed to most of them during coalition negotiations.

SPD politicians are criticizing Merz’s steps toward border controls and the suspension of the resettlement program for Afghans.

“There is not a single person in the [SPD’s parliamentary group] who is a fan of the security-focused policy measures in the coalition agreement, especially the migration section,” said SPD lawmaker Rasha Nasr.

This issue is likely to be a major area of conflict within the government when lawmakers reconvene in the fall. They will then consider proposals to expand the list of safe countries to which migrants can be deported and to eliminate state-provided legal counseling for migrants slated for deportation.

The SPD may oppose some of Merz’s more stringent measures and try to prevent him from becoming the EU’s “hardline leader” on immigration abroad.