The chancellor stressed that many people from other countries have helped the economy but added that the government must be able to choose who comes to Germany.
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00:00German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rolled his sleeves up for a passionate speech in the German Parliament on Wednesday morning.
00:07Scholz underlined the public's wish for serious politics rather than a theatrical performance
00:13after talks about migration with opposition party CDU collapsed on Tuesday.
00:18Scholz added that many people from other countries have helped the German economy
00:23but stressed that the government must be able to choose exactly who comes to Germany.
00:28Because this is so important, I would like to say that we are still ready.
00:34The door is not closed. We would do it with him.
00:37Addressing the recent success of anti-immigration far-right party Alternative for Germany, AfD,
00:42during the two recent East German state elections,
00:45Scholz said that the AfD party is married to the past and trying to rob Germany of its future.
00:51Leadership is not to climb on a barricade and raise demands with a wild gesture.
00:56Leadership is to turn around and be able to move your own people to a compromise.
01:01That is leadership, Ms. Merz.
01:04Although Chancellor Scholz aggressively defended his coalition government's policy to welcome migrants,
01:11other EU countries, such as Poland, say the German government's decision this week
01:16to extend spot controls to all its land borders undermines Europe's Schengen Agreement
01:22and could destabilise the EU as a whole.
01:25Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.