German coalition partners agree on migration compromise

German Chancellor Angela Merkel hammered out a last-minute deal to end a political stand-off with her Interior Minister Horst Seehofer over the country’s migration policy that threatened to collapse theircoalition government.

Seehofer’s “master plan” on migration centered around refusing entry to asylum-seekers who have previously registered in other European Union countries, a move that his party likely hoped would win back supporters who turned to the Alternative for Germany.

Yanis Varoufakis, a former Greek finance minister and prominent critic of the European Union, told Bloomberg News Ms Merkel had lied to her country about the Greek debt crisis, and had failed along with other EU leaders in her duty to work out a solution to the migrant crisis in Europe.

After a two-day summit with European Union leaders in Brussels last week, Ms Merkel believed she had struck such a deal.

The head of the third party in Merkel’s fragile coalition government, Social Democrats chief Andrea Nahles, condemned Seehofer’s “blackmail attempts” and charged that “the CSU is on a unsafe ego trip that is paralyzing Germany and Europe”. Instead, he reportedly offered to step down, a move that could have provided temporary respite for Merkel but might have meant the end of the decades-old CDU/CSU alliance and the coalition government.

But he was then persuaded by party colleagues to have one more meeting with Merkel on Monday to try to resolve the long-standing row and said he would make his final decision within three days.

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.

But Ms. Merkel has rejected any unilateral action by Germany, and insists on a coordinated European approach, as agreed at last week’s EU asylum-policy summit in Brussels. “The sum of everything we have decided has the same effect [as national measures]”, she said.

Diederich noted that the CSU’s motivation in precipitating the crisis likely stemmed from its interest in fending off the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) in October’s elections.

By letting the CSU tear itself apart over its future in the coalition, Merkel may yet rid herself of a formidable foe in Seehofer – as she has with a string of other top conservatives in her 12-1/2 years in office. Speaking to reporters, the chancellor said they had found a good compromise after “a hard struggle”.

The CSU softened its stance this week in the face of withering criticism across party lines and the media, and poor polling results, with other leaders stressing that the alliances must live on.

If the CSU had withdrawn its support for Merkel’s coalition, she would be left without a majority in the German parliament, possibly prompting fresh elections.

“I would like very much for the CDU and CSU to continue working together”, she added.

Austria’s Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the far-right Freedom Party warned last week that on the day Germany sends back migrants “we will be ready and secure our own borders”.

Mrs Merkel got backing from both the CDU and CSU at a parliamentary meeting on Monday. Shortly after the reports of Seehofer’s possible resignation, CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer appeared before reporters to reaffirm the party’s commitment to Merkel’s asylum policy.