The leader of Germany’s conservative opposition has promised far-reaching changes to border and asylum rules after next month’s election after a group of children were targeted in a deadly attack in Bavaria.

Friedrich Merz in effect promised to close Germany’s borders to all irregular migrants, including those with the right to protection.

A two-year-old boy of Moroccan origin and a 41-year-old man were killed in an attack on Wednesday in Aschaffenburg, and several others were injured.

A 28-year-old Afghan man was due to appear in court on Thursday charged with murder and grievous harm.

Wednesday’s stabbing in Aschaffenburg is the latest in a series of violent and deadly attacks involving suspects who have sought asylum in Germany.

Within hours, the stab prompted a hard tone from Chancellor Olaf Scholz as well as Merz, the leader of the right-wing opposition.

Schulz promised quick action and called it an “act of terrorism” — although officials have not said, so far, that they believe there is a terrorist motive.

Merz, who leads the Christian Democrats in the polls ahead of the February 23 federal election, refused to accept that attacks in Mannheim last May, Solingen in August and Magdeburg last month, would be the “new normal.”

The Afghan suspect in yesterday’s attack arrived in Germany in 2022 and has been linked to three previous acts of violence, according to Bavarian officials. He had agreed to leave Germany last month, but was still receiving psychiatric treatment and living in asylum accommodation.

The investigating judge will decide whether he should be remanded into custody or temporarily placed in a psychiatric hospital.

Merz said that on his first day as chancellor, he would ask the Interior Ministry to take permanent control of Germany’s borders.

“We see before us the ruins of 10 years of misguided immigration policy in Germany,” he said. “We have reached our limit.”

Under his party colleague, Angela Merkel, Germany welcomed more than a million refugees during Europe’s 2015-16 migrant crisis.

He criticized EU asylum rules as “admittedly dysfunctional”, and said Germany must “must now exercise its right to the primacy of national law”.

Germany has already reinstated checks at its borders to combat illegal immigration, which are temporarily allowed under the EU’s border-free Schengen rules as a “last return” measure, but not permanently.

Mears also said it’s time to dramatically increase the number of places available for pre-deportation detention.

Merz promised to close the borders to illegal entries on the first day in Berlin Chancellor has a Trumpian ring.

The American president has It pushed through a flurry of executive orders and actions To address illegal immigration since re-entering the White House this week.

In Germany, both the center-left chancellor and Merz are aware that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD), polled second, has made immigration a signature issue.

AFD leader Alice Wedel has called for a vote in the German parliament next week on closing Germany’s borders and returning irregular migrants. “The Aschaffenburg knife terror must now have consequences,” she said on social media.

Some critics will argue that the move by Schulz and Merz to take a tougher stance now comes too late. Others will argue that a rightward shift by mainstream parties could strengthen AFD arguments.

In any case, German politics does not lend itself to a set of presidential-style decrees, given the necessity of forming alliances with other parties.

The leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party, Christian Lehner, said that Merz would not be able to introduce such changes if he went into alliance with the Social Democrats or the Green Party.

Nancy Weisser, an interior minister and party colleague of Olaf Scholz, suggested that “some people are now making largely fact-free arguments in an election campaign setting.”

“I can only warn very clearly against misusing such a terrible act of popularity, and this only benefits right-wing populists with contempt for humanity,” she said.

The 41-year-old man killed in the knife attack on Wednesday was praised, apparently for his timing in helping the kindergarten group and saving the lives of other children.

The two-year-old, of Syrian origin, suffered knife wounds to her neck.

A 72-year-old man suffered serious stab wounds and a kindergarten teacher suffered a fracture.