Comment: While there are calls for “remigration” in Germany, Pedro Sánchez writes in the NYT

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It has been over a week since Germany also took note of the fact that “Spain wants to legalize the residence of around 500.000 migrants.” Meanwhile, in the US, ICE agents are hunting down citizens who look like migrants and shooting people who document this hunt. In Germany, meanwhile, one party has included the goal of “remigration” in its election program.

So it is quite astonishing that, one day after its publication, the Spanish Prime Minister’s guest article in the New York Times is not considered newsworthy by any German “leading media” outlet.

It is headlined: “I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants.” This is not the opinion of a columnist, as can be seen from the first part of the headline: “I’m the Prime Minister of Spain!” This is someone speaking from his official position. It has a certain quality, similar to an “ex cathedra” statement by the Pope.

Not like Friedrich Merz’s statements, where you don’t know whether it’s the Chancellor or the offended Fritz von Blackrock speaking. Isn’t it time that a leading figure in Germany, someone who is literally “in power,” stood up and said:

“Imagine you’re the leader of a nation, and you face a dilemma. Half a million or so people who are crucial to everyone’s daily lives inhabit your country. They care for aging parents, work at small and large companies, and harvest the food that’s on the table. They are also part of your community. On weekends, they walk in the parks, go to restaurants, and play on the local amateur soccer team.“

That’s how the article begins, and it continues in the same vein. Meanwhile, not only is this being discussed in Germany, but action is already being taken to deport as many migrants as possible. It doesn’t even matter whether they speak the local language, work in important sectors, pay taxes and social security contributions, and so on. The main thing is “Get out of our country!” and one party even wants to revoke the citizenship of people who have already been naturalized.

Is the Spanish government on the right track, or is Pedro Sánchez underestimating the problems of migration? No, he is putting them in exactly the right context:

“It won’t be easy. We know that. Migration brings opportunities, but also huge challenges that we must acknowledge and face. Nevertheless, it is important to realize that most of those challenges have nothing to do with migrants’ ethnicity, race, religion, or language. Rather, they are driven by the same forces that affect our own citizens: poverty, inequality, unregulated markets, and barriers to accessing education and health care. We should focus our efforts on addressing those issues, because they are the real threats to our way of life.“

There is no need for a conclusion here; our leaders must also urgently consider how to combat “poverty, inequality, unregulated markets, and barriers to education and healthcare” instead of migrants. Whether this will happen in the near future is doubtful. Unfortunately, it is also doubtful whether Spanish voters will support Pedro Sánchez.