The German chancellor just finished a week of meetings in which she met with more than a dozen leaders from across the EU.
Advertisement
A common European migration policy will be on the agenda of an EU summit next month, but eastern members the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia refusing to take in refugees under an EU-wide quota system championed by Berlin.
Half of Germans would oppose a fourth term for Angela Merkel, according to a newpoll by Deutsche Welle. Many violent attacks on civilians in July, two of which were claimed by Islamic State, have focused attention on Merkel’s open-door migrant policy.
Merkel did not comment on the matter at the time, although a spokesperson for the chancellor said the remarks were “vile” and “sad”, but she told Boateng’s parents on Sunday: “You have a great son”.
The IAB German labour officer research institute says that around 16,000 refugees are now arriving each month, compared with more than 200,000 last November alone.
Just over a year before the next federal election, Merkel fielded questions in a television interview on eastern Europe’s reluctance to accept Muslim refugees, relations with Turkey, sanctions against Russian Federation and the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.
Mr Gabriel accused Washington of being… “There is an upper limit to a country’s integration ability”, he added at a news conference on Sunday.
Authorities said almost 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany previous year, putting enormous strain on its bureaucracy to process claims and testing confidence in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s right-left coalition government. “We have also told refugees that we expect that they obey our laws, that you learn German, and we’ve created the possibility to punish” those who don’t.
Despite the refusal of some European Union countries to take in refugees, Ms. Merkel added that the bloc was able to operate effectively in a crisis.
While the latest influx is expected to stress the country’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, its director said he feels confident the numbers won’t rise above the estimate, BBC reported.
Advertisement
The bloc has been left soul-searching since June when the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to quit the EU.
