BERLIN

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been criticized by his own government coalition parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD), for saying that he wants 80% of Syrians living in Germany to return to Syria within three years, press reports said Tuesday.

“It’s not a wise move for the chancellor to put forward specific figures within specific timeframes because that raises expectations he may not be able to meet,” said SPD deputy chairwoman Anke Rehlinger in an interview with newspapers published by the Funke Media Group.

Following a meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Scharaa at the chancellery on Monday, Merz set a target that 80% of the more than 900,000 Syrians in Germany should return to their home country within the next three years. The chancellor added that al-Sharaa hoped for this.

Merz emphasized that the civil war in Syria was over and that, in principle, there was a prospect for return.

Rehlinger expressed understanding of the Syrian president’s wish. Some Syrians would certainly follow it, and that is a good thing. "However, many Syrians are now our fellow citizens because they are integrated here, work in shortage occupations, care for the elderly, or drive buses, and not infrequently have even become German citizens,” said Rehlinger.

The chancellor has also faced criticism from within his own CDU party.

“The message sent by such figures is problematic in several respects,” CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter told the business daily Handelsblatt newspaper.

The conservative lawmaker argued that it was politically unwise to raise high expectations that right-wing populist parties could then exploit. Like Rehlinger, he also pointed to Syrian skilled workers. “If they return, we’ll face a challenge,” Kiesewetter warned.

Meanwhile, Luise Amtsberg, a Green Party member of the German parliament (Bundestag) and the Foreign Affairs Committee’s rapporteur on Syria and the Middle East, described the chancellor’s remarks as “shameful.”

“This is causing anxiety among hundreds of thousands of German-Syrians, who are getting the impression that they will have to leave Germany again in the coming years,” Amtsberg told the daily Rheinische Post newspaper.

“Anyone who throws such numbers around is ignoring not only the fragile security situation in Syria, but also the fact that many Syrian refugees have long since become part of our society,” she added.