Merkel pressured by own camp to change course on refugees / Berlin and Vienna try to put brakes on refugee influx

Features discuss the challenges facing German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the context of her liberal policies towards Germany receiving asylum seekers / refugees. Tensions within the coalition government (CDU/CSU and SPD) were said to be high.

In particular CSU Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer criticised Mrs Merkel's open-door policy as the Chancellor stood on stage beside him at a Munich congress attended by some 1,000 members of his conservative CSU party on the 21 November 2015.

Germany's European Commissioner Günther Oettinger said in an interview in Handelsblatt on the 25 November 2015 that 'The German asylum law acts like a magnet for refugees' and needs changing.

EurActiv.de wrote on the 27 November 2015 that both Germany and Austria were looking for ways to reduce the number of refugees coming to their countries. Like other traditionally open countries such as Sweden there was a sense they could not shoulder alone taking large number of refugees while other EU Member States resisted EU-wide solutions.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Merkel faces growing party pressure on refugee crisis / Germany flexes its anti-migrant muscles http://www.europeansources.info/record/merkel-faces-growing-party-pressure-on-refugee-crisis-germany-flexes-its-anti-migrant-muscles/

ESO: Background information: Merkel pushes for transit zones, warns of military clashes http://www.europeansources.info/record/merkel-pushes-for-transit-zones-warns-of-military-clashes/

ESO: Background information: Bye Bye Merkel Doctrine: German Foreign Policy Shifts Focus to Refugees http://www.europeansources.info/record/bye-bye-merkel-doctrine-german-foreign-policy-shifts-focus-to-refugees/

ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/

The Local.de, 21.11.15: Top Merkel ally calls for asylum cap http://www.thelocal.de/20151121/merkel-ally-calls-for-asylum-cap-in-national-interest

ESO: Background information: 10 years in charge: A portrait of Angela Merkel http://www.europeansources.info/record/10-years-in-charge-a-portrait-of-angela-merkel/

Deutsche Welle, 22.11.15: German media report suggests a 'winter upsurge in refugee numbers' http://dw.com/p/1HARE

Spiegel Online International, 20.11.15: Quiet Capitulation: Merkel Slowly Changes Tune on Refugee Issue http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/angela-merkel-changes-her-stance-on-refugee-limits-a-1063773.html

Deutsche Welle, 24.11.15: CSU forces Merkel into uncomfortable refugee dialogue http://dw.com/p/1HC3d

The Local.de, 25.11.15: German asylum law is 'magnet for refugees' http://www.thelocal.de/20151125/german-asylum-law-is-magnet-for-refugees

EurActiv, 27.11.15: Berlin and Vienna try to put brakes on refugee influx http://www.euractiv.com/sections/global-europe/berlin-and-vienna-try-put-brakes-refugee-influx-319870

EurActiv, 01.12.15: German government divided over changes to asylum law http://www.euractiv.com/sections/justice-home-affairs/german-government-divided-over-changes-asylum-law-319988

ECFR: Commentary, 03.12.15: Germany's hunt for a coalition of the willing http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_germanys_hunt_for_a_coalition_of_the_willing5041

The Wall Street Journal, 09.12.15: Behind Angela Merkel’s Open Door for Migrants http://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-angela-merkels-open-door-for-migrants-1449712113

The Local.de, 10.12.15: Can Merkel keep party behind her on refugees? http://www.thelocal.de/20151210/merkel-seeks-to-pacify-troops-at-party-congress

Euronews, 09.12.15: Merkel’s struggle to defend million refugee ‘moral duty’ http://www.euronews.com/2015/12/09/merkel-s-struggle-to-defend-million-refugee-moral-duty/

EurActiv, 11.12.15: Gabriel raps Merkel for boosting France's National Front http://www.euractiv.com/sections/elections/gabriel-raps-merkel-boosting-frances-national-front-320378

EUObserver, 14.12.15: Merkel: Germany needs to reduce number of refugees https://euobserver.com/migration/131512

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