57
in the long term? There, I think it
is to keep Europe together and to
show humanity."
Merkel, once highly popular, has
seen her ratings plummet because
of her handling of the migrants
issue. The majority of those
surveyed by public broadcaster
ARD earlier in February were
dissatisfied with her.
Germany attracted 1.1 million
asylum seekers last year, leading
to calls from across the political
spectrum for a change in its
handling of refugees coming to
Europe to escape war and
poverty in Syria, Afghanistan
and elsewhere.
Merkel now faces what she said
on Sunday was the biggest
challenge of her decade in office.
She is struggling to secure a
Europe-wide plan for dealing
with the migrants. She is pinning
her hopes on talks between
European Union leaders and
Turkey on March 7 and a
migration summit on March 18
and 19.
JF mag!
After many failed attempts, the
two meetings look like the final
chance to agree on a joint
response before warmer weather
encourages more arrivals across
the Mediterranean. But Merkel
said she would fight on for a
European solution even were the
March 7 meeting to fall short.
The migrants question has not
only divided Europe. There is
also strong dissent within
Germany and the governing
coalition.
Politicians from the state of
Bavaria's Christian Social Union,
the sister party to Merkel's CDU,
have been critical of her stance.
They want a limit on the number
of migrants, similar to that
imposed in Austria. So too does
the majority of Germans in the
ARD survey.
Austria, the last stop on the way
to Germany for hundreds of
thousands of migrants, recently
imposed restrictions on its
borders, setting off a domino
effect in Europe in limiting the