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German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer offered his resignation in Munich this Sunday as well as the direction of the Bavarian Social Christian Union (CSU) at a meeting with his coreligionists. Head of the political group that is one of the pillars of Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, he is unhappy with the results of a European summit on refugees last week.
The differences between the leaders of the CSU and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of Angela Merkel, on the treatment of refugees at the German border caused an internal crisis that could lead to the end of the Chancellor's fourth government.
At the meeting of the European Union in Brussels, the 28 countries agreed that refugees rescued at sea in European waters will go through screening centers in Europe. Those found in international waters will be returned to the countries of origin. The construction of other checkpoints in North Africa is being badyzed, a proposal rejected by the third partner of the coalition, the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
It was also agreed that Germany would make immigrants who had already sought refuge in other European countries. Merkel agreed with Spain and Greece to speed up the rejections of refugees who were registered in these two countries and said she had obtained a similar pledge from another 14 countries. Seehofer argued that the measures taken by European leaders would not have the effect advocated by him to prevent the arrival of asylum seekers in Germany.
After a disappointing victory in the September 24 legislative elections and a far-right historic breakthrough, Merkel made a major political concession to the UHC in October. He then agreed to set the number of asylum seekers per year at 200,000.
Party leader in the most industrialized region of Bavaria in Germany, Seehofer will face regional elections in the second half of the year and fears losing the 61-year-old hegemony of the Alternative. 39, far right for Germany.
The concern makes sense because the CSU registered its worst performance for decades in 2017, bringing together 38% of the votes in Bavaria against 10% of the radicals of the AfD. In an attempt to stem the populist advance, the strategy of the head of the CSU has been to radicalize his speech on immigration.
In early June, Seehofer proposed the creation of an international alliance against immigration with the Italian and Austrian governments, both in the hands of populist parties. The strategy is to push the Chancellor to adopt a "ceiling" on the reception of refugees.
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