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Merkel’s Bavarian allies put foot down over border bans

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MUNICH/BERLIN: The leader of Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies told the party leadership on Sunday he saw no alternative to turning some migrants back at the German border, a party source said, a position that could escalate his conflict with the chancellor.


The party is due to decide whether the deals on migration Merkel brought home from a Brussels summit this week are enough to satisfy the restive Christian Social Union (CSU), who are determined to secure a tougher immigration policy.


Nine months after elections that saw her lose votes to the far-right, a weakened Merkel was forced to turn to European Union neighbours to help resolve a conflict with her allies which could bring down her three-month-old coalition.


But the CSU’s leader, interior minister Horst Seehofer, told party colleagues that a discussion he had with Merkel late on Saturday evening had been fruitless, according to a party source, and was adamant that there was no alternative to exclusions at the border, opposed by Merkel.


There were fresh signs on Sunday that the two leaders, entrenched in their positions, may fail to resolve their differences. Seehofer said the matter was also affecting the “credibility” of his role as party leader and is planning to give a statement to CSU leaders, party sources said.


The CSU party, facing a stiff challenge from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in October’s regional election, is determined to seal off its right flank.


Earlier this week, EU leaders hammered out a deal to share out refugees on a voluntary basis and create “controlled centres” inside the European Union to process asylum requests.


Merkel said in an interview with ZDF television that the formal agreements and verbal commitments she had secured from her EU partners would have the migration-stemming effect the CSU wanted to achieve, but in a more European-minded fashion.


She reiterated her determination to act in way that was “not unilateral and that are not to the detriment of third parties” — highlighting her continued opposition to proposals by Seehofer to turn back refugees at the border.


“The sum of all we’ve agreed is equivalent to what the CSU wants — that’s my personal view, but the CSU must decide for themselves,” she said.


e aren’t yet where we want to be... In my view Europe will be held together, otherwise free movement could have been in danger,” she added.

A document circulated by Merkel to coalition allies on Friday night outlined repatriation agreements with 16 countries and proposed reception centres in Germany where migrants would undergo an accelerated asylum procedure — measures that represent a significant hardening of her 2015 open-door asylum policy.


But the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long sought to position himself as Merkel’s nemesis in the immigration debate polarising the continent, later said they had signed no bilateral agreements on repatriation.


The CSU’s leadership were tight-lipped as they arrived at their party’s Munich headquarters to discuss Merkel’s deals. But earlier, Bavaria’s premier Markus Soeder, mindful of the October regional elections, was positive.


“It goes absolutely in the right direction,” he said, but added he would keep up the pressure to obtain more clarity on the details. — Reuters


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