German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s allies in Bavaria stepped up  criticism of her open-door refugee policy yesterday, with their leader demanding a cap of 200,000 migrants a year, about a fifth of last year’s level.
Merkel faces splits in her conservative bloc and coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) over her insistence that Germany can cope with the crisis as towns struggle to house migrants, many having fled war in the Middle East and Africa.
Horst Seehofer, the combative leader of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, where most migrants arriving via the Balkans enter Germany, told Bild am Sonntag that it was possible to integrate up to 200,000 asylum seekers and refugees a year.
“Anything more than that, I think is too much,” he told the paper. “The central goal for 2016 must be to limit the number of migrants. We are at the moment a long way from this goal.”
Seehofer hosts Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron at a meeting of his CSU party this week in the remote resort of Wildbad Kreuth and refugees will be a big topic.
Merkel has so far categorically refused to set a limit. In her New Year’s address she told Germans the influx was “an opportunity for tomorrow”.
Seehofer took the chancellor to task on her refugee policy at a CSU meeting in November, where the two shared a stage.
Stung by his criticism, Merkel rebounded at a CDU gathering the following month, winning a standing ovation from party members with a speech defending Germany’s “humanitarian responsibility” towards migrants while also calling for a “tangible” reduction in numbers.
A magnet for migrants partly due to generous social benefits, Europe’s biggest economy is taking in more than any other EU state.
It registered 1.09mn migrants last year, a newspaper reported last week.
The CSU has long called for a cap and has repeatedly threatened to take action, such as sending refugees back to other countries.
So far it has not acted on those threats and towards the end of last year, Seehofer’s tone had softened.
The CSU chief also warned that Germany’s budget goals were at risk if migrants kept arriving at the same rate.
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble aims for a balanced budget this year.
“If the refugee numbers stay at 2015 levels, a budget with no new borrowing is hardly do-able,” Seehofer said.
Merkel, whose popularity has waned due to the refugee crisis before five regional elections this year, has rejected a cap but in a nod to her critics, she told her Christian Democrat (CDU) party last month that the number of migrants would fall.
The SPD said Seehofer’s remark exposed conservative rifts.
“Angela Merkel and Horst Seehofer must reach agreement within the conservative camp. Their row is unsettling people,” said SPD general secretary Katrina Barley.