The right-wing AfD party has called for an official inquiry into allegations the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued illegal visas to Afghans, Syrians and Turks—supported by forged documentation.
“Under Annalena Baerbock, the Federal Foreign Office has been downgraded to an immigration and smuggling agency. Thousands of migrants were smuggled into Germany in deliberate circumvention of the law,” declared AfD’s parliamentary leader, Alice Weidel.
She said the “systematic abuse” was causing “serious damage to Germany and jeopardising internal security” and called for Baerbock to be “removed from office immediately,” Junge Freihet reports.
As we reported last week, an investigation by Cicero magazine found that Baerbock’s foreign office had urged diplomats in German embassies to go easy on issuing visas for Afghans, Syrians and Turks, even if they had suspected forged documents, brushing aside serious security concerns. This may have even allowed Pakistani agents into Germany.
One case involved a family of seven. The mother and four children had already flown to Germany, but questions arose about the father and alleged son, who were still in Afghanistan. The son spoke Farsi with a Pakistani, rather than Afghani, accent, and the father appeared to be “highly educated, almost military-like,” despite claiming to be a barber.
The embassy wrote to Berlin, saying, “The main character and family could have been deliberately given Afghan identities. … There is strong suspicion that this is a case staged by Pakistani authorities.”
In addition to this case, Schengen.News reports that many other Syrians, Afghans, and Turks have entered Germany using dubious documents; several have already applied for asylum.
Investigators claim they are checking hundreds of cases of unauthorised entries and that they are looking through all past decisions that permitted the entry of foreigners on forged documents.
However, to date the minister has been highly selective in her answers to the press.
Apollo News says that during a visit to a tank manufacturing plant in Flensburg, Baerbock responded evasively when asked about the scandal, without specifically denying the accusations. “I have taken note of the fact that there has already been some reporting, where we have already made it very clear that with regard to visa procedures, established practice is of course in accordance with the law,” she burbled.