BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has done an about-turn on its refugee policy and has gradually shifted away from its welcoming culture, the leader of her Bavarian allies told a newspaper.
Merkel opened Germany’s borders to refugees last summer and at that time Germans applauded newcomers arriving at the train station in Munich but, as the mood toward migrants has shifted, she has stressed that the number coming needs to be reduced.
“The federal government has completely changed its refugee policy, even if it does not admit that,” Horst Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), told Bild am Sonntag.
“There has been a creeping withdrawal from the unconditional welcoming culture. Despite the images from the Greek-Macedonian border no German politician today says: ‘The borders are open, let everyone come to Germany’,” he added.
Some 1.1 million refugees came to Germany in 2015.
A senior member of the opposition Greens, Anton Hofreiter, also accused Merkel of changing tack, telling Rheinische Post newspaper the chancellor had “given up her humanitarian approach” by supporting a deal between the European Union and Turkey that aims to stop illegal migration flows to Europe.
Bavarian premier Seehofer has insisted the country should cap the number of refugees it accepts at 200,000 per year, a demand Merkel has rejected as she bets instead on a European solution to the crisis.
Merkel ally says Germany has changed refugee policy
Merkel ally says Germany has changed refugee policy
France’s Macron laughs off ‘harmless’ eye condition as he addresses troops
French President Emmanuel Macron joked about a “completely harmless” eye condition on Thursday during a New Year address to France’s armed forces.
“Please pardon the unsightly appearance of my eye,” Macron said at the beginning of his speech. “It is, of course, something completely harmless.”
Macron appeared with a puffy, red eye during his speech at the military base in Istres, in southern France. He earlier wore sunglasses during an outdoor troop inspection.
“Simply see an unintentional reference to the ‘Eye of the Tiger’ ... For those who catch the reference, it is a sign of determination,” he joked, in an apparent reference to the name of the hit theme song by American rock band Survivor from the 1982 Rocky III movie starring Sylvester Stallone.
Macron’s speech addressed key challenges for the military in 2026, from France’s accelerated rearmament and continued support for Ukraine, to the decision to send troops to Greenland in a show of support for Denmark.
