German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in a newspaper interview published yesterday that he would not back down in his dispute with Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Germany’s migration policy.
In comments carried by the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Seehofer reiterated his determination to start turning people away from the border unless an acceptable solution was found to the migration question.
He said that it would be extremely unusual for Merkel to use her political power to veto his plans.
“We will not allow that to happen,” he said, adding that the chancellery had “made a mountain out of a molehill”.
A bitter dispute over migration erupted this week between Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their more conservative Bavarian sister party and coalition partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which is headed by Seehofer.
The CSU wants to start rejecting all asylum-seekers who have already registered elsewhere in Europe from the beginning of July.
German lawmakers have said a decision to go it alone by Seehofer could force Merkel to dismiss him and may even bring the coalition government, which also includes the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), but depends on the CSU for a majority.
Referring to an emergency EU migration summit planned for today, Seehofer said: “If the EU summit does not bring effective solutions, migrants already registered in another EU country will be rejected.”
He said he had never suggested the border should be completely sealed off.
“It’s about being able to reject effectively,” he said.
Seehofer: If the EU summit does not bring effective solutions, migrants already registered in another EU country will be rejected.
