"Finale Lösung" (Final solution). That was the expression used by the leader of the European People's Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, to refer to the issue of refugees. The group includes the MEPs from Spain's governing PP party. The expression, with its similarities to the Nazi's name for the Holocaust, has caused a serious controversy in Germany.
Weber used the phrase yesterday in a convention held by his party, CSU (Christian Social Union in Bavaria), the sister party of Angela Merkel's CDU. Today it has been covered by the country's largest media outlets and subject of a heated debate online.
Weber said at the convention that "in the year 2018, the core European topic is the final solution to the refugee question", reminiscent of the Nazi regime's "final solution (Endlösung) to the Jewish question".
In his speech, broadcast yesterday afternoon by Bavarian public TV, "we need legislative responses at the European level" and that, to find a solution, "the main negotiators" have to be the central European countries, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, who was an invitee at the convention.
In the face of the ensuing scandal, Weber said on Twitter that the "intentional misinterpretation" of his statement was "complete nonsense" and that he wanted to say that "in 2018, a joint European solution to help people in need" is needed.
In aller Klarheit: die absichtliche Missinterpretation meiner Aussage hier ist völliger Unsinn und nicht im geringsten von mir beabsichtigt. Es geht gerade im Gegenteil darum, dass es 2018 eine gemeinsame europäische Lösung im Sinne der Hilfe für Menschen in Not braucht. https://t.co/kLu616ohGV
— Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) 5 janvier 2018