German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a center-right politician, has admitted what some have argued is the real truth about the deadly, disastrous riots overtaking France and other European nations.
Speaking with Bloomberg on Monday, just as French authorities were admitting that they’d “lost control” of the streets, Merz appeared to admit that at least one reason for the riots has been mass migration to Europe.
“The reason for that is most likely non-integrated people, migration, and parts of the voters are voting extremely right and extremely left,” he said. “And that is creating tensions and obviously riots in some countries, including France.”
The statement marked a stunning turnaround for the chancellor, who in May proudly declared that “Germany is a country of immigration.”
Later in the Bloomberg interview, Merz tied the issue of mass migration to the separate but related issue of the economy.
“This is a composition of uncertainty, anxiousness, spending money for energy, which is assumed as being too much, as inflation rate is going up, housing costs are growing,” he said.
“So people are really fearing what is next and what comes in our future, and how can we establish our future for our kids and for our grandchildren?”
“And that is something which is on the table of my government as well, to give people a certain degree of assurance and certainty that it’s worthwhile to live in Germany, to work in Germany, and that this remains a secure country,” he continued.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, high volumes of asylum seekers and other migrants have deeply strained public budgets throughout Europe, but particularly so in Germany, which the institute described as “the world’s third largest refugee-hosting country.”
“Germany is grappling with a severe housing crisis and strained public services, amid unprecedented pressure on public finances,” the institute reported in 2024.
Meanwhile, a separate report filed days ago by Björn Harms of Die Welt, a German national daily newspaper, revealed that Germany’s lax migration policies have cost it at least €400 billion (or roughly $450 billion), as reported by Zero Hedge.
Do you agree with Chancellor Merz that mass migration is contributing to unrest in Europe?
Zero Hedge also cited a 2024 study from top German academic Bernd Raffelhüschen of the University of Freiburg that estimated mass migration may cost Germany up to €19.2 trillion in total.
Naomi Seibt, a conservative German activist who has dubbed herself the first German asylum seeker under President Donald Trump, argued in a social media post last spring that Germany “used to BOOM” economically before the government chose to “ruin” everything “with mass migration.”
I’m not even joking, Germany feels like a 3rd world country ever since I fled to the U.S.
Germany’s economy used to BOOM with the greatest technology, education and architecture.
But the government is RUINING the people’s potential with mass migration.— Naomi Seibt (@NaomiSeibt) April 16, 2026
Even current Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, whose election to office was praised by the left, has linked migration to the destructive riots in France.
“In the face of this senseless destruction and unjustified violence, perhaps it is now clear to everyone why Hungary advocates the strictest possible approach to migration, and why we will not weaken our border protection or immigration policy under any pressure,” he wrote in a recent social media post.
Shocking videos and images are coming out of France. Historic buildings have been destroyed, hundreds of police officers have been injured, and enormous material damage has been caused amid the escalating vandalism and violence of recent days.
In the face of this senseless destruction and unjustified violence, perhaps it is now clear to everyone why Hungary advocates the strictest possible approach to migration…
— Magyar Péter (Ne féljetek) (@magyarpeterMP) October 18, 2026
In his remarks to Bloomberg, Merz stressed that in Germany, only “peaceful protests” will be tolerated.
“We have to give a clear message to those who want to demonstrate peacefully,” he said. “You can always do that.”
“As soon as it comes to casualties or to violence against policemen, the limit has been achieved, and this is the point where we send our police to the street.”
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