Merkel Pans Multiculturalism, Vows to Reduce Refugees

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is willing to talk with Britain about concessions that will help the country to vote to stay in the EU.

"We will reduce the number of refugees clearly", Merkel had told the congress a day earlier, in a formula that got the hardliners in her very own party to drop demands for fixed upper limits - Obergrenzen in German - to the number of refugees.

From helping avert a "Grexit", to taking a leading diplomatic role mediating the conflict in Ukraine, to spearheading Europe's response to the refugee crisis, 2015 has been a landmark year for Merkel.

Asked in an interview with ARD television on Sunday whether this is the most hard time of her 10-year chancellorship, Merkel replied that she has faced a series of challenges.

Under pressure, Merkel has pledged to reduce the numbers of new arrivals although she has refused to put a cap on the figures.

Germany is expecting to register one million asylum seekers this year alone, and Merkel's open-door policy for people fleeing war has divided both her country and the EU. Without promising specific action, she said that Germany would be "overburdened" if refugees continued to arrive in such large numbers.

"Germany should be a country that is open, curious, tolerant and even exciting", she added, painting an upbeat vision for the future and stressing how far the country had come since she took power a decade ago. Senior lawmaker Arnold Vaatz said it sent "much too weak" a signal to migrants.

CDU delegates hope Merkel's dynamic speech on Monday and Seehofer's more emollient tone will shore up popular support for their alliance.

In her speech, Merkel noted moves by her government to make it easier to send home people from Balkan countries such as Albania and Kosovo, and underlined German officials' insistence there are "safe areas" in Afghanistan to which some migrants can go. "I know that the European wheels grind slowly, but we will get them grinding". "And that's important, because Germany's towns and villages are reaching the limit of their capacity when it comes to dealing with the refugee crisis".

 

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