Senior German aide urges stance against far-right

BERLIN

European governments should adopt a more resolute stance against far-right groups following Britain’s decision to leave the EU, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief aide said Monday.

Peter Altmaier, the head of the Chancellery and minister for special tasks, voiced concern over growing support for Eurosceptic and right-wing parties after the British referendum last month.

Addressing a conference in Berlin, Altmaier said EU governments should take concrete action to address concerns about unemployment, security and immigration without drifting towards right-wing populism.

“We must adopt a more resolute stance against the populist and inhuman politics of these parties,” he said.

“In Germany, many people are concerned about the refugee crisis -- that is understandable and comprehensible. But the [far-right] AfD party is not sincere about sharing these concerns. They are not interested about really addressing these concerns but just [in] exploiting them for their own populist goals.”

The right-wing in France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany has applauded the U.K. vote to leave the EU and has called for similar referendums in other EU states.

Altmaier, who is in charge of managing the refugee situation in Germany, emphasized that the EU-Turkey deal had significantly reduced people trafficking through the Aegean.

“In October last year, each day around 7,000 refugees were coming from Turkey to Greece,” he said. “Recently, per day less than 100 refugees are crossing to Europe.”

He added that the deal has improved living conditions for Syrian refugees in Turkey through measures such as opening the labor market and providing schooling.