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

Friedrich Merz effectively promised to close Germany’s borders to all irregular migrants, including those entitled to protection.

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

A 28-year-old Afghan man is due to appear in court on Thursday charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Wednesday’s stabbing in Aschaffenburg was the latest in a series of violent and deadly attacks involving suspects seeking asylum in Germany.

Within hours, the stabbing prompted Chancellor Olaf Scholz and center-right opposition leader Mertz to toughen their tone.

Scholz promised swift action and called it an “act of terror” – although officials have so far not said they believe it was a terrorist motive.

Merz, whose Christian Democrats are leading in opinion polls ahead of the February 23 federal election, has refused to accept that the attacks in Mannheim last May, Solingen in August and Magdeburg last month will become 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 agreed to leave Germany last month but is still undergoing psychiatric treatment and living in an asylum.

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

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

“What we see before us are the ruins of ten years of misguided asylum and immigration policies in Germany,” he said. “We’ve reached our limit.”

Under his party colleague Angela Merkel, Germany took in more than 1 million refugees during Europe’s 2015-16 migrant crisis.

He criticized EU asylum rules as “clearly dysfunctional” and said Germany should now “exercise its right to the supremacy of national law”.

Germany has reinstated border checks to combat illegal immigration, which is temporarily allowed under the EU’s borderless Schengen rules as a “last resort” but not permanently.

Meltz also said it’s time to significantly increase the number of places where people can be detained before deportations.

Speaking at the chancellery in Berlin, Merz promised to close the border to illegal entry from day one, which had Trumpian overtones.

The President of the United States has Promoted a series of executive orders and actions Since returning to the White House this week, he has been committed to solving the problem of illegal immigration.

In Germany, both the centre-left chancellor and Merz are aware that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which consistently ranks second in opinion polls, has made immigration a signature issue.

Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel has called on Germany’s parliament to vote next week on closing Germany’s borders and deporting irregular migrants. She said on social media: “The knife terror in Aschaffenburg will now definitely have consequences.”

Some critics say the move by Scholz and Mertz to take a tougher stance comes too late. Others believe that the rightward shift of mainstream parties will only bolster the Alternative for Germany’s arguments.

In any case, German politics is not amenable to presidential-style first-day decrees, given the need to form alliances with other parties.

Free Democratic leader Christian Lindner said Merz would not be able to introduce such changes if he aligned himself with the Social Democrats or the Greens.

“Some people are now in campaign mode making arguments that basically have nothing to do with the facts,” said Nancy Feser, who is both interior minister and a party colleague of Olaf Scholz.

“I can only warn very clearly against the abuse of this horrific populist behavior, which only benefits right-wing populists who have a disdain for humanity,” she said.

A 41-year-old man killed in a knife attack on Wednesday was praised for apparently providing aid to a kindergarten group and saving the lives of other children.

Another child, a two-year-old from Syria, suffered a knife cut to his neck.

A 72-year-old man was seriously stabbed and a kindergarten teacher suffered a broken arm.