Christian Sewing, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, told Reuters on 11 October that recent regional election victories by far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and far-left groups are sending “the wrong signal” to foreign investors. “You can’t expect an overseas investor to neatly separate a state government from Germany as a whole,” Sewing said, adding that talk of mass deportations and drastic immigration cuts fuels perceptions of political risk. The remarks come three weeks after the AfD scored record results in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia on a platform that includes closing Germany’s borders to asylum seekers and rolling back the 2020 Skilled Immigration Act. International business associations have already expressed concern: the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany warns that skilled-labour shortages will worsen if migration avenues are restricted. Financial analysts note that Germany attracted just €6.3 billion in new foreign direct investment in H1 2026, down 18 % year-on-year. Sewing argued that inclusive labour-market policies and a predictable regulatory environment are prerequisites for reversing that trend. He urged the federal government to “double down” on the new Chancenkarte visa and speed up digital residence-permit processing. For global-mobility professionals the takeaway is that political discourse around immigration is no longer a purely social issue but a tangible element of country risk assessments made by boards and relocation candidates. Employers may need to reassure foreign assignees about long-term residency prospects and monitor any policy proposals emerging from coalition negotiations in affected states. Sewing’s intervention is likely to add pressure on Berlin to affirm its commitment to the Skilled Immigration Act when it presents the annual migration report to the Bundestag next month.
Source: Reuters (via Internazionale)
