Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that she wants to “drastically decrease” the number of refugees coming to Germany, signaling a compromise to conservative critics of her open-door policy on the eve of a party congress.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, acknowledges the delegates’ applause during the CDU federal party convention, in Karlsruhe, Germany, December 14 2015.
“We want to, and will, appreciably reduce the number of refugees, because it’s in everyone’s interest”, Merkel said in a confident speech to her Christian Democratic Union that was greeted with a standing ovation.
The internal opposition within her CDU party wants her to reduce the number of new arrivals before regional elections in three German states take place in March and claims that Merkel’s hopes to run for a fourth term in 2017 are in jeopardy. “Armenpress” reports that Financial Times states that the reason for such a decision was her strong stance on the flow of refugees coming to Europe from the Middle East.
She also touted a range of measures already undertaken in Germany, including extending a list of safe countries of origin, expediting repatriation of rejected asylum seekers and beefing up staffing to process applicants.
With a wide-ranging 73-minute address to the party faithful in Karlsruhe, Merkel effectively quashed an attempt by the right-wing of the party to impose upper limits – Obergrenzen in German, referred to by the media as the “O-word” – on refugees.
As Germany received its millionth refugee last week, a huge logistical challenge in a country of 80 million, Dr Merkel has faced demands for a migration cap, something she sees as a contradiction to fundamental human rights.
More than 1,000 delegates to the congress however are expected debate the refugee issue, with many still likely to still seek specific measures to lower the number of asylum seekers seeking refuge. Merkel has led the party for the past 15 years and has been Germany’s chancellor for the past 15 years.
She added: “Germany should be a country that is open, curious, tolerant, and even exciting”. The text in the policy statement seeks for a “tangible reduction of asylum seekers and refugees”, as Merkel’s repeated rallying call of “we can do it” in helping refugees seems to be wearing thin.
“We insist on European solidarity”, Merkel said.
“This is an historic test for Europe and I want Europe to pass it”, Merkel said.
The leader of the CDU’s sister party CSU, Horst Seehofer, has described Merkel’s position as “a mistake”.
Merkel’s critics still continue to question her policy.
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Nevertheless, the CDU has recovered its footing in the polls after a steep drop in the autumn and is now tallying about 39%, just 2.5 points off its 2013 showing in the general election.
