At a pivotal party congress of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Merkel said Germany would pursue a range of measures to stanch the flow of asylum seekers, slated to number around one million people this year.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel will face her Christian Democratic Union Monday attempting to unite the fractious conservatives behind her welcome to the biggest influx of refugees since World War II.
While sticking to her approach, Merkel underscored her aim of getting migrant numbers down.
She said that the EU’s deal with Turkey to improve the conditions of Syrian refugees in the country; strengthening of security measures at EU’s external borders; and efforts to fight the root causes of the problem will help address the refugee crisis.
Merkel’s critics want her to ensure the number of refugees reduce before the elections in March, saying that her chances of running for a fourth term in 2017 would be in danger.
The conference, which opens on Monday in the southern German city of Karlsruhe, is expected to be dominated by the refugee issue and regarded as an indicator of how much support the party leader has among her own base.
Asked in an interview with ARD television on Sunday whether this is the most hard time of her 10-year chancellorship, Merkel replied that she has faced a series of challenges.
The leadership motion won delegates’ overwhelming support but still didn’t satisfy everyone.
In her speech, Merkel noted moves by her government to make it easier to send home people from Balkan countries such as Albania and Kosovo, and underlined German officials’ insistence there are “safe areas” in Afghanistan to which some migrants can go.
“This is an historic test for Europe and I want Europe to pass it”, Merkel said.
She said Adenauer’s declaration during the Cold War that “we vote for freedom” and Kohl’s promise of “flourishing landscapes” after reunification had both come true, adding that Germany could similarly deliver on the “we can do this” pledge.
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Merkel faces a congress of her conservative party amid tensions over her management of the migrant influx. The 61-year-old has been Germany’s leader since 2005 and her party’s biggest electoral asset for years, with popularity ratings that remain solid even though they’ve slipped amid the refugee crisis.
