The Providence Journal (R.I.), March 19:
Angela Merkel has been the chancellor of Germany for more than a decade. She’s been praised internationally for her political acumen, keen interest in foreign affairs, and leadership role during the global economic crisis.
But in her own country, voters are expressing deep concerns about Merkel’s reaction to the European refugee crisis, and her open-door immigration policy.
Last August, Merkel said there should be “no tolerance of those who are not ready to help, where, for legal and humanitarian reasons, help is due.” It was an honorable position, a welcome voice of concern for desperate fellow human beings, but it did nothing to ease German fears about the assimilation (or lack thereof) of refugees and immigrants.
Merkel’s role in a hastily arranged European Union-Turkey migration deal didn’t help, either.
In the proposed arrangement, Turkey would reclaim migrants arriving in Greece. Turkey would also receive billions of euros and a long-desired push toward E.U. membership. One Syrian would have been resettled in Europe for every Syrian taken back.
Many E.U. countries are concerned about this deal. Some accused Merkel of arranging it “(b)ehind the backs of some her closest European allies,” according to the Financial Times on March 8. The deal may not come to pass.
This month’s German state elections were therefore viewed as a mini-referendum on her leadership. They turned out to a major repudiation.
In Baden-Wurttemberg, her political party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), lost 18 seats in its former stronghold and finished second to the Greens. In Rhineland-Palatinate, where the party once had a healthy lead, the Christian Democrats finished second to the Social Democrats. And in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU remained in first place despite losing 11 seats.
Alarmingly, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a virulently antiimmigrant party formed in 2013, was the main beneficiary of the CDU’s collapse. The AfD finished second in Saxony-Anhalt, third in the other states, and won a cumulative total of 62 seats.
Merkel has been sent a clear message by voters. She must balance compassion about immigration with concerns about assimilation. If not, the “Iron Lady” of Germany could be made of lead before long.
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