Germany's "Iron Lady" temporarily escapes dire situation

It can be temporarily affirmed that this move has put an end to the political deadlock of many days between Ms. Merkel and the Minister of the Interior, saving the ruling coalition from the brink of collapse.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. Photo: Time

The move to compromise

Thus, after experiencing many political events in the past few days and even weeks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has finally reached an agreement to end the conflict between her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and the Christian Social Union (CSU) party.

At the end of a meeting held amid the crisis that reached its peak on July 2, after Interior Minister and CSU Chairman Horst Seehofer threatened to resign on the evening of July 1, the Bavarian and “iron lady” Merkel finally achieved an important breakthrough.

For her part, Ms. Merkel affirmed that Germany will have national "transit centers" to "arrange and redirect secondary migration" - a phrase used to refer to the flow of migrants within the European Union (EU).

The agreement will balance national and international approaches to the issue of how to control migration. “This preserves the spirit of partnership within the EU, and at the same time is an important step in organising and controlling secondary migration. We have found a good compromise after intense negotiations and many difficult days.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Meanwhile, Mr Seehofer, who confirmed that he would continue as interior minister, said he was “very satisfied” with the “clear agreement” reached by Germany’s two conservative parties to “stop illegal migration”.

The transit centers will help speed up the decision-making process for granting asylum, and in negative cases will help speed up deportation moves, the politician added.

Sources from DW also confirmed that the leaders of the two parties agreed that the recently reached agreement would reduce the flow of migrants to Germany, and allow the country to quickly "turn back" those who do not have the opportunity to be granted asylum here.

So far, the agreement appears to have buried the contentious issue of whether Germany has the authority to “redirect” migrants at its borders. This also means that the main point of contention between conservatives that threatened to break up the long-standing CDU-CSU coalition in the German parliament has now been settled.

Conflict over immigrants

As mentioned, the agreement reached earlier this week is the end of a feud that has been brewing and erupting for a long time. Since late 2015, Mr. Seehofer has not hesitated to regularly criticize Ms. Merkel's open, welcoming policy toward migrants, especially when the Chancellor decided not to ask these groups to turn around and reverse their journey at Germany's borders.

In March this year, when Seehofer became German Interior Minister and CSU Chairman, the situation became even more complicated. Adding to the existing tensions is the fact that the state of Bavaria - the CSU's "home" - plans to hold regional elections in October.

In order to protect its absolute majority in this vote, the CSU is on tenterhooks and feels compelled to take a hard line on migrants, cutting off the possibility of competition from the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. Photo: Imago

As interior minister, Seehofer’s “master plan” on migration was central to his tenure. But he failed to get Merkel to agree on one of its 63 provisions, which calls for Germany to reject migrants who have registered in other EU countries but arrive at its borders.

Chancellor Merkel has repeatedly reiterated her preference for European solutions to the migration problem. Of course, as expected, Mr Seehofer was reluctant to accept any amendments and repeatedly postponed the submission of the document.

Instead, he even threatened to use his powers as interior minister to impose border controls despite Merkel’s objections. And the standoff, with no one giving in, has become the spark that ignited a crisis in the country’s ruling coalition.

Third party response

The German political “equation” also includes another third party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD). On July 2, when Ms. Merkel was meeting with her counterpart from the CSU, SPD chairwoman Andrea Nahles suddenly spoke up, saying that the party would only follow the direction of the coalition agreement between them and the CDU-CSU, and would not take Seehofer’s master plan as a guideline.

After negotiating late into the night on Monday, Merkel and Seehofer discussed arranging a coalition committee meeting with the SPD. Those talks are set to begin on the afternoon of July 3, with many issues said to need to be clarified before the SPD can ratify the deal.

The SPD leadership has also bluntly stated that they need time to consider before making a decision, and at the same time announced a five-point plan, clearly stating what the party expects to happen on the issue of migration.

Migrants cross the sea to Europe. Photo: DPA

The Social Democrats called for more action to address the reasons why people leave their homelands; no unilateral moves to force them back at national borders within the EU; increased support for Italy and Greece, the two EU countries where most migrants arrive by sea; tightening controls on the EU's external borders; and a comprehensive German law regulating immigration into the country and the local labor market.

It is clear that with such difficult content, the answer from the SPD is unlikely to come soon. We need to wait and see whether the Social Democrats will ultimately agree to the arrangement that the CDU and CSU have offered them.

The most dire situation in Mrs. Merkel's government has temporarily calmed down, but only when the SPD gives her a thumbs up can the "iron lady" and her apparatus be considered to have completely resolved the surrounding dangers.