Merkel’s Bavarian ally pledges unity on refugees

In this December 14, 2015 photo the face of CDU federal chairwoman and Chancellor Angela Merkel has been etched into a cup of Cappuccino by a latte artist at the CDU (Christian Democratic Party) federal party congress in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer drew polite applause at a conference of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union – a day after Merkel rallied her party behind her approach, winning a nine-minute standing ovation.

He may have been mollified by Merkel’s own gesture at the CDU congress on Monday to address the concerns of the right wing of her party – fears that are shared with the CSU – about Germany being swamped by an estimated 1 million refugees expected to arrive this year, which would be four times the level of 2014.

She said Germany as Europe’s economic powerhouse still has a moral and political duty to continue providing help to the world’s most desperate and vulnerable people.

German chancellor Angela Merkel will lead a meeting of eight European states and Turkey on the sidelines of an EU summit on Thursday to discuss plans to resettle refugees from Turkey.

Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and Seehofer’s Christian Social Union (CSU) jointly make up the conservative bloc that leads Germany’s coalition government, where the Social Democrats are junior partners. Last month, he lectured her onstage at his party’s congress. On Tuesday, he stressed the value of unity.

“We will manage this”, Merkel told around a thousand delegates at the party conference gathered in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe.

“That was very important as it is completely clear that another million isn’t going to work”, said Kristina Schroeder, a former family minister, in reference to the record one million migrants that have entered the country this year. This year also marked her tenth year as leader of Germany, during which time she has been credited with overseeing the rebuilding of the nation’s economy and its return to power on the world stage.

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. The pace of arrivals has slowed after an autumn peak but Seehofer said some recent days still saw more than 5,000.

She said it had been a “humanitarian imperative” to open German borders to refugees camped out in Hungary back in August.