Germany alarmed by Massive increase in attacks on refugee shelters

Horst Seehofer, the chairman of the Christian Social Union party, a partner of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, said he would take Germany’s government to court unless it limits the number of refugees crossing the nation’s borders.

Austria reacted with immediate anger to Seehofer’s comments.

The Bavarian government demanded to reject refugees directly at the German border, if the other EU states failed to meet their European commitments and to take over the incoming refugees.

Peter Altmaier, Merkel’s chief of staff who was this month put in charge of the government response to the influx of newcomers, told Bild that Germany “won’t turn its back” on anyone in need and must reduce bureaucracy and speed up the asylum process.

The announcement followed a meeting of his cabinet that produced an action plan of concrete measures for the reception and integration of newcomers to the largest and richest of Germany’s 16 federal states. She was speaking in the western city of Wuppertal, adding the Wolfsburg-based company should openly detail its misconduct quickly in order to help protect the many jobs across the industry that depend of its wellbeing. Schools will be provided with 1,700 teachers, Seehofer said, stressing that “education is the gateway to integration”.

The referendum is due to take place before the end of 2017 but there are major elections in France and Germany during that year which would make securing a good deal more hard. “We are of the firm opinion that immigration must be managed and limited”.

Her centre-left allies in Berlin are of a different opinion, warning in this weekend’s Der Spiegel that “in the long run, Germany can not absorb more than one million people”.

Amid the historic migrant influx, she implored citizens to harness the bold can-do spirit of Germany’s reunification a quarter-century ago, and to remember that granting safe haven to persecuted people is a core European ideal.

Her critics’ biggest complaint is that Merkel – by broadcasting her stance worldwide with statements and selfies with refugees – has turned Germany into a magnet for ever-more refugees.

A bit less than 630,000 refugees already lived in Germany in 2014.

Merkel, the newspaper said, spoke “like a waterfall and lively like never before, which showed how critical the situation is”.