British Prime Minister David Cameron fended off changes on Tuesday to a draft deal he has cut to help keep Britain in the EU, as other states demanded adjustments and the European Parliament said it could not guarantee to pass the reforms.
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Although Merkel said that Germany can handle the 1.1 million refugees who arrived in 2015, and potentially more expected in 2016, almost 40 percent of Germans believe that she should harden her stance on the refugee policy, according to January’s Insa survey for Focus magazine.
“As a member of the EU, Germany is trying hard to pursue a realistic approach”, said Merkel.
Germany has taken in most and Merkel insists Europe must welcome more, if no longer with open arms at least with a charitable attitude.
“These are not just about Britain’s individual interests on some issues or questions, rather it is about several points that are justified and understandable”, she told parliament in Berlin.
“Our ideals of peace, freedom and justice are only possible if we act in unison as Europeans”, he said.
Cameron has pledged to hold an “in or out” referendum on whether Britain should withdraw from the European Union by 2017.
She also said that while Israel and Germany have different views on a sanctions-ending nuclear deal between world powers including Germany and Israel’s arch foe Iran, there was a limit to how friendly Germany could be with Tehran. “We as the European Union must learn to protect maritime borders”.
Their so-called “Plan B”, which Austrian Chancellor Walter Faymann also advocates, calls for a barrier along Greece’s borders with Bulgaria and Macedonia, which European Union officials have warned would effectively exclude Greece from the visa-free Schengen zone.
“We are at last seeing some first progress”, he told Bild, according to Reuters.
EU President Donald Tusk said late Wednesday that the outcome of the talks was still on a knife’s edge. “If we don’t learn, we won’t succeed next time with Italy, across the sea from Libya”.
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“Either she has the confidence of her coalition, and so may continue their current policy, or she doesn’t”, he said.
