“As a strong, economically healthy country we have the strength to do what is necessary”, the chancellor said.
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“But the phenomenon of Islamist terror, or of ISIS, isn’t one that arrived with the refugees”, Merkel said in the town of Neustrelitz, using one of the acronyms for Islamic State.
The problem is, as it is with many of Trump’s statements, is that they are patently untrue; there has been no significant crime increase in Germany because of the refugee influx. An anti-refugee sentiment has been especially high among German citizens since the country saw a spate of attacks last month.
Miss Petry demands the setting up of a “return migration authority” which will “bring illegal migrants and rejected asylum seekers on to two islands protected by the United Nations outside Europe”. Ahead of state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on September 4, the latest poll puts support for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union at 23 percent, four percentage points ahead of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party.
The comments were made during an interview released by her CDU party.
“More personnel and more chances to intervene” is Merkel’s proposed response, in line with the security package presented last week by Interior Minister Thomas de Maizère, announcing the hiring of thousands of police officers and other law enforcement agents, as well as quicker expulsions for risky refugees, and better video surveillance.
Participants of the demonstration “Wir fuer Berlin und Wir fuer Deutschland” (“We for Berlin and We for Germany”) protest in a street in Berlin. In fact, the report revealed that refugees from Iraq, Syria, or Afghanistan were far more likely to be the victims of crime than the assailants.
Angela Merkel says Islam is and will be part of German culture as long as it is practised in a way that respects the country’s constitution.
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Merkel’s popularity has suffered in the wake of the attacks and 52 percent of Germans think her migrant policy is bad, a poll published last week showed.
