 |
| Henriette Reker |
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| Hornst Seehofer |
“It’s a capitulation to
say we cannot protect the borders.”
Hornst Seehofer
“Horst Seehofer, the head
of Merkel’s Christian Democrats’ sister party, the Christian
Social Union, who in recent weeks has become her fiercest critic, hit
out at the chancellor again. He accused her of risking German and
European stability by continuing with her policy of keeping the
country open to refugees, even though they continue to arrive at a
rate of thousands a day.
“Without restrictions on
immigration, Germany and all of Europe will collapse spectacularly,”
he told an audience in Munich, repeating his claim that the
government had no specific plan to deal with the crisis, and that
Merkel had lost control. “We have a responsibility for the lives of
refugees,” he said, but added that Berlin was overlooking the fact
that the burden was largely being carried by Bavaria – where the
majority of new arrivals are entering Germany, via Austria – which
had to look after them, including “providing education for the
illiterate”.
On Thursday the Bundestag,
the lower house of parliament, overwhelmingly approved a package of
measures intended to help reduce the number of migrants coming to
Germany. The details of the bill included adding Albania, Montenegro
and Kosovo to the category of safe countries so that people from
those lands can be turned back, and replacing monetary payments with
material goods with the aim of dissuading those suspected of coming
for financial gain.
Another measure experts say
is vital involves allowing immediate access to integration courses
and German language teaching to those whose asylum applications are
being processed. Until now in most cases, such courses have
officially only been available to those already granted asylum.
At a raucous town hall
gathering of CDU supporters on Wednesday night, Merkel was her most
candid yet in admitting that Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since
the second world war had taken its toll on her. “This is the
biggest task I’ve faced in my life as chancellor,” she said to
the crowds in Schkeuditz, near Leipzig. “I know it’s a hard
situation but I will not give up.”
She has seen her popularity
slide since her decision to open Germany to Syrian refugees in
August. But in an interview earlier this week she said she had never
let poll ratings influence her politics.
While tens of thousands of
Germans continue to show goodwill towards the refugees, working as
volunteers or opening their homes to them, tensions in some parts of
the country are growing.
At Schkeuditz one
participant held up a placard with the slogan: “Stop the refugee
chaos, preserve German culture and values. Topple Merkel.”
On Monday evening at a
rally of the anti-immigrant movement Pegida in Dresden, one protester
carried a mock gallows hung with a noose that was labelled “reserved
for Angela ‘Mutti’ Merkel”. Police have launched an
investigation.”
German
mayoral candidate stabbed in attack linked to migrants policy
Chancellor
Merkel condemns attack on Henriette Reker, said to be in stable
condition with neck wounds, on eve of Cologne election
Agence France-Presse
in Cologne
Saturday 17 October
2015 20.03 BST
The German
chancellor, Angela Merkel, has expressed shock over the stabbing of a
political ally, in an attack police said was linked to the migrant
crisis.
Henriette Reker, an
independent close to Merkel’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU),
suffered serious wounds to the neck in the attack in the western city
of Cologne, which is to elect its mayor on Sunday, on Saturday
morning.
Police arrested the
attacker at the scene, with regional police chief Wolfgang Albers
describing it as a political act linked to the fact that Reker was
“responsible for taking charge of refugees” in the city, the
fourth largest in Germany.
The attacker, a
44-year-old unemployed man, “said he had a racist motivation for
committing this act”, Cologne police official Norbert Wagner told a
news conference.
Reker was said to be
in a stable condition after the attack, which took place at a CDU
information stand in a market. Four other people were wounded in the
incident, one seriously.
Merkel “expressed
her shock and condemned this act”, a spokesperson said, while the
interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, called it an “appalling,
cowardly” attack.
The violence took
place as Germany struggles with a huge influx of Syrian
asylum-seekers whose numbers are expected to reach between 800,000
and a million by the end of the year.
The chancellor’s
open-door policy has provoked a backlash among her conservative
allies and sparked protests from the far right.
Justice minister
Heiko Maas condemned the attack as “an unimaginable and abominable
act”, while regional president Annelore Kraft said it was an
“assault on democracy”.
Reker is seen as
standing a good chance of securing the mayorship of Cologne,
Germany’s fourth-largest city with 980,000 inhabitants.
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