Angela Merkel's allies propose favoring Christian migrants over Muslims; 'Germany must stay Germany'

The Bavarian-based allies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel released a paper calling for strict immigration policies that will prioritize migrants over Muslims.

In the paper, the Christian Socialist Union (CSU) proposed a ban on Islamic face veils and dual citizenship. CSU demanded strict rules for newcomers to integrate with German society and learn the language. The party also sought to limit the admission of immigrants to 200,000 people a year.

"Germany must stay Germany," the CSU wrote. "We are against our welcoming country being changed through migration and waves of refugees," it continued.

CSU suggested that Germany should prefer migrants "from our Christian-occidental cultural sphere."

"A state must decide by itself whom it accepts — it's not the migrants who decide," the paper added.

CSU vehemently opposed Merkel's stance on immigration which allowed the entry of a million asylum seekers into Germany. Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was recently defeated in a state vote by the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Green party leader Simone Peter criticized CSU's proposal, stating that the party was trying to be "the Bavarian sister party of the AfD".

Jan Korte of the far-left party Die Linke called the proposals "irresponsible, backward-looking and brimming with hypocrisy."

Frauke Petry, leader of AfD, noted that the support for Merkel's party was waning. "We see the political climate changes towards AfD and against the established parties, especially the Christian Democrats, Angela Merkel's party — 21 percent in the northeast of Germany is an absolutely brilliant result," Petry told CNN.

Merkel conceded that the immigration policy played a big role in the party's loss.

Aiman Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims, attributed the loss to racism. "Those who blame the chancellor's refugee policies alone for the AfD's poll success ignore the deep rooted racist resentments in our society," he said.

Attacks against non-Germans have reportedly increased since the influx of refugees to Germany. Mazyek stated that there has been a surge in physical and verbal attacks against Muslims. He said that attacks against mosques and their congregations have increased as well.