Ms Merkel blasted Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, who have all been ardent critics of her open-door migrant policy and the EU’s attempt to force countries to accept migrants, in an explosive interview this weekend.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel made a pitch to win back voters dismayed by the influx of refugees and Germany’s deepening involvement in worldwide crises, hinting at tax cuts and attempting to broaden her party base with an appeal to citizens of Turkish descent.
Although he admitted that integrating the immigrants to the socioeconomic and culture of Germany would mean higher fiscal spending and greater reallocation of taxes to social services over many years.
“There is an upper limit to a country’s integration ability”.
“We always said that it’s inconceivable for Germany to take in a million people every year”, Gabriel said in an interview on Saturday.
Gabriel made his comments as campaigning gets underway for regional elections before next year’s federal election.
Germany expects to receive as many as 300,000 migrants in 2016 in addition to the 1 million who arrived past year from the Middle East and Africa.
He also blasted Merkel’s catchprase “We can do this”, which she adopted during the refugee crisis last summer and has repeatedly used since.
Frank-Juergen Weise, the head of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said, in an interview with the German weekly Bild am Sonntag that he predict sharp drop in numbers in 2016 compared with previous year.
Bild am Sonntag cited a poll by independent opinion research group Emnid showing 50% of respondents opposed another 4-year term for Merkel, while 42% said they wanted her to stay in office.
BAMF chief, Frank-Jurgen Weise, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that his office would struggle if more people arrived, but he said he was confident the number of new arrivals would remain within the estimate.
“We are at a completely different position since a year ago”, Merkel told ARD, highlighting the progress.
However, when asked in her Sunday ARD interview if she might consider resigning at some point, the German chancellor dodged the question, promising to announce the decision on whether she will run again at an appropriate time.
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Officials have spoken of more than million arrivals in 2015 but Germany’s top migration official said, actual figure was expected lesser once duplicate registrations and people who migrate to other countries are excluded.
