German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded during her annual summer press conference on Friday that the recent government crisis over migration policy cost her coalition public trust that will have to be won back.
“Yes, I believe that is the case,” Merkel said in response to a question as to whether the spat between her conservative CDU and its hardline CSU sister party over whether to turn back migrants at the border had reduced her standing in the eyes of the public.
Merkel said she believed the debate over migration policy was an important one to have, but that the tone of the discussion “was often very harsh, and I attach a very, very great importance to the language.”
German Interior Minister and CSU leader Horst Seehofer’s push to start turning away migrants put him on a collision course with the chancellor, who insisted on avoiding unilateral decisions in favour of solutions in accordance with other EU member states.
Merkel made an 11th-hour deal with Seehofer to…
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