German parliamentarian Jens Spahn of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) spoke with DW on Wednesday about his party's policies on immigration, specifically people coming from Syria, as the country's election campaign steps up ahead of a February vote.

Spahn said Germany should pause new asylum-seeker applications from Syria, as the current government intends to. "We need to stop all the programs that take Syrian refugees to Germany, since we have to wait [to see] what's going on there, how it develops," the former health minister told DW.

Spahn has proposed paying €1,000 ($1,036) to each Syrian immigrant who volunteers to self-deport, prompting discussion and some criticism in Germany.

Asked about this, Spahn said the CDU wants "to help support those who want to go back to Syria… to build up the country again."

He offered an invitation for some to stay, saying, "those who are actually integrated, who pay for themselves and their families, who speak the language, are part of our German society, they should get an offer to stay," but added, "at the same time, those who do not need our protection anymore, they need to leave."

The issue of taking in Syrian refugees has been a flashpoint since CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel uttered her famous "we can do this" phrase during the so-called 2015 refugee crisis.

Government on booting Syrians — not so fast

Spahn's proposal was quickly put into context by Steffen Hebestreit, spokesman for the lame-duck Olaf Scholz administration, who suggested a better path forward would be to take things one step at a time.

Hebestreit said comments like Spahn's were "likely to trigger uncertainty among refugees in Germany, many of whom have lived in Germany for years," though he also acknowledged they were a sign of "understandable emotion at a time when the election is inching ever closer."

Spahn's pitch was also criticized from within his party as well as by Ingo Wortmann, president of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), for the fact that it ignores the vital role that Syrians now play in the German workforce.

Bigger than Germany, Spahn says end the message of EU as migrants' paradise

DW also asked Spahn about the larger prospect of closing EU external borders in the not-so-distant future.

He said it was important to "put an end to the message" that just reaching the EU meant you can stay and would immediately be eligible for benefits.

"If we don't end that message then we can't get control over irregular migration," Spahn said.

Although he said the EU should always be open for refugees from crisis regions, he noted that numbers should be limited and entry requirements selective, in cooperation with the UN. Spahn said the current situation, in which "almost only young men come without any control over our European borders," would prove untenable.

As economic forecasts darken for Germany and discontent grows, current polling has the CDU ahead of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with 31.5% to 19.5%. Olaf Scholz's SPD is polling at 16.5%, trailed by the Greens at 11.5%, then the left-wing BSW party (8%), the FDP (5%) and the Left Party (2.5%).

This story was written with additional reporting from DW's Michaela Küfner.

js/jsi (dpa, Reuters)