Merkel, allies avert collision for now in German migrant row
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s allies in Bavaria averted an immediate collision Monday with the German leader, giving her two weeks to make deals on migrants with other European countries instead of turning them back unilaterally at Germany’s border.
In her fourth term at the helm of Europe’s largest economy, Merkel made it clear that she has no intention of being pushed around after an internal power struggle over immigration escalated into a threat to her government.
She said she would report back July 1 on the results of her negotiations, and that as far as she’s concerned it’s not yet clear what will happen if there’s no European deal on the divisive topic.
Her interior minister, Horst Seehofer, has been calling for Germany to turn back migrants at the border who have previously applied for asylum or registered as asylum-seekers in other European countries.