‘My daughter is safer in Spain’: Immigration in Germany is ‘out of control’, says Real Madrid star Toni Kroos
8 July 2024, 12:56
Toni Kroos has argued immigration in Germany is 'out of control' and said he would feel better letting his daughter out at night in Spain than in his home nation.
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The retiring Real Madrid and Germany star has claimed his country has changed since he left for the Spanish capital 10 years ago, primarily due to "uncontrolled" immigration.
“I believe that this control over certain issues has simply slipped away a little over the years and there’s a reason for that,” he told the Lanz & Precht podcast.
“In my opinion, the reason is that people have overwhelmed them.”
Kroos added the caveat that it was "great" that Germany had welcomed in so many migrants, but said it had now gone too far.
“I think we didn’t manage it, this basically very positive approach that I support 1000 per cent, because I find that sensational, that people come to us from the outside and then are happy,” Kroos added.
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Kroos added that as his seven-year-old daughter gets older, he would rather he go out at night in Spain than in Germany.
“I wouldn’t have had that 10 years ago,” he added.
Political parties in Germany have been split on how to tackle to issue of migration after the former Chancellor, Angela Merkel, allowed one million refugees to enter the country in 2015.
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Those on the right of German politics led a backlash against Ms Merkel's policy, eventually leading to the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
This culminated in last month's European elections, with the Conservative alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union finishing first in the vote.
The AfD finished second with 16 per cent of the vote, an increase of five per cent compared with the 2019 European elections.
The current Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has reacted with a number of policies attempting to take a harder line on immigration.
This includes the introduction of a new bill which would allow for the deportation of foreigners who support acts of terror and violence - even on social media.
Kroos' comments come as part of a wider movement of footballers intervening in their homeland's politics, including French star Kylian Mbappe.
Before the first round of the French elections, Mbappe urged his nation to reject the "extremists" on offer to the electorate.
"I think that more than ever, we have to go and vote, it is really urgent, we cannot leave our country in the hands of these people, it is really urgent," Mbappe told a news conference at Euro 2024.
"We saw the results of the first round, it’s catastrophic. We really hope that this will change and that everyone will mobilise to vote... and vote for the right side."
