Germany and Italy have similar issues in processing the number of new migrant arrivals, Merkel said during Wednesday’s Italo-German summit in the northern Italian city of Maranello.
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Italian Premier Matteo Renzi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday met fire fighters who rescued an eight-year-old girl in Pescara del Tronto after a devastating natural disaster in central Italy on August 24 that left 293 dead. Merkel also greeted rescue crews and shook the paw of Leo the black Labrador, who helped locate a 4-year-old survivor, Giorgia, in the rubble. Merkel said that it was clear there were many hurdles and fears that she needed to dismantle.
‘In 2004 and 2005, there were already many refugee arrivals, but we left it to Spain and others at the external borders to deal with, ‘ Merkel said.
‘Germany will remain Germany, with everything that is dear to us, ‘ Merkel told the newspaper.
“If you asked me before if I would introduce a distinctive phrase that would be quoted many times over, I would not have thought of this phrase”. “And, yes, we also resisted a proportional distribution of refugees then”.
Renzi had hoped to use the occasion to showcase Italy’s industrial prowess, but the natural disaster took centre stage, with Merkel shaking the paw of a dog that had taken part in the rescue operation as she arrived for the meeting.
Merkel has also recently faced a drop in approval ratings following several violent attacks in July that involved perpetrators who had sought asylum in Germany.
German media later reported that both had been in contact with members of Isis. This makes integration a huge challenge, she added.
Angela Merkel’s continued defense of immigrant acceptance policies goes alongside her defiant position that, despite “mishandling” the crisis, there is still a way to combine the welcoming of those who need asylum and protecting the border and safety of her country.
On militancy, she said: “It’s simply incorrect to say that terrorism came only with the refugees”.
“As a government we want to give a hand”, she said.
Her comments followed an earlier interview with a German newspaper where she said the country, and the European Union, failed to respond early enough to the migrant crisis.
“Germany will remain Germany, with all that we love and hold dear”.
“In my mind, there is no valid alternative” to these policies, Merkel said, in a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
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“These are reflected in our liberality, our democracy, our constitutional state, and in our overwhelming commitment to a social market economy, through which our economic strength can absorb those who are weakest”.
