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The list of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's allies continues to deteriorate. Merkel heads the Christian Democratic Union and her brother party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, is led by Horst Seehofer. (But he is also his Minister of the Interior.) However, traditional allies are now at a standstill because of Merkel's unwavering support for open border policies that have seen more than a million migrants migrate. to settle in Germany in recent years. Seehofer apparently saw the writing on the wall and now describes the problem of the country's migrants in clear terms. (Associated Press)
Germany's interior minister said the issue of migration is "the mother of all political problems in this country".
Horst Seehofer, who also runs the Bavarian equivalent of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right party, told Rheinische Post in an interview published on Thursday that voters are linking their concerns to the issue of migration.
Mr Seehofer has taken a stronger stance on migrants than Merkel, sometimes fighting with her publicly, while her party in the Christian Social Union was facing heavy losses in the Bavarian parliamentary elections next.
As we discussed last week, Merkel was confronted with a series of riots in the city of Chemnitz, in eastern Germany, after two migrants from Syria and from Iraq have been accused of murdering a German citizen. Merkel decried the violence and called for tolerance as any leader must do. But in the face of what appears to be a very difficult election series in Bavaria next month, Mr Seehofer in fact defended the demonstrators who were tracking migrants and beating them. In fact, to say that he offered his "support" is a euphemism. He told a local press conference that if he was not the Minister of the Interior, he would have been on the streets blowing himself up. (Daily Mail, added emphasis)
Seehofer, who largely contributed to bringing down her own coalition partner, Angela Merkel, last month, criticizing her immigration policy, pointed out that not all the protesters in Chemnitz were activists of the day. 39, far right in defending their actions.
"If I was not a minister, I would have taken the street as a citizen – of course, not with the radicals" Seehofer told the Rheinischer Post.
Mr Seehofer also called for a "pan-European solution to the migrant crisis", adding that he thought "the issue of migration is the mother of all political problems".
Seehofer has already partnered with Austria and the new government in Italy to form the Axis of Will, looking for new solutions to the migrant crisis. (These guys really need to work on their political name.) Calling anything a "Axis" is always frowned upon.) Italy has essentially stopped accepting new refugees and economic migrants to that time. The borders of Austria are effectively closed. Spain has been very reluctant to take a significant number of people fleeing Syria and Iraq, and the French are already living up to foreign imports and terrorist attacks.
What is Germany supposed to do at this point? The right-wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany) made significant gains in the last election, largely thanks to its opposition to a new immigration. And the forecasts for the next Bavarian elections seem rather unhelpful for the parties that traditionally held power in the modern era. Looks like Seehofer has read the tea leaves and is ready to just throw Merkel under the bus rather than being kicked out of the office. If Merkel's term as chancellor lasts until the end of the year, it will be close to a miracle at this rate.
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