Bavarian conservative CSU defies Angela Merkel on migration policy
Germany's conservative bloc may be coming apart at the seams, as its Bavarian wing lines up behind Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and against the chancellor. It's the greatest challenge ever to Merkel's authority.
Speaking to reporters after separate emergency meetings of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU and the Bavarian conservative CSU, regional CSU leader Alexander Dobrindt was "100 percent" in support of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer's so-called master plan for migration. That includes turning away some people at Germany's nation border – something Merkel has explicitly ruled out.
"As we discussed, parts of the master plan are the direct responsibility of the interior minister, who comes from our ranks," Dobrindt said, adding that the CSU was intent on turning migration policy "upside down."
Dobrindt also said that while the CSU still supported efforts to deal with migration on a European level, Bavarian conservatives felt that the time for action was now.
"It cannot prevent us from acting right now and doing what we are allowed to do legally," Dobrindt said.
Later on Thursday, the Chancellor downplayed the rumblings of a breakdown on the issue, saying that she was "sure we will all work together," on the problem, "and that includes the federal government."
A collision course
The CSU statements came after both that party and the CDU withdrew for separate emergency consultations on refugee policy. Normal parliamentary business went on hiatus, and emissaries shuttled backed and forth between two parties that normally are mirror images of one another.
As Merkel was initially quiet on the issue publicly, the head of the party's youth wing, Paul Ziemiak, said that the party was firmly behind Merkel and that he hoped the two sides would agree a joint policy by the beginning of next week. Dobrindt reportedly also began consultations with CDU Parliamentary Leader Volker Kauder.
When Merkel did offer a statement later, she reminded the public that immigration was one of the biggest challenges facing the European Union, not just Germany: "Therefore I believe that we should not act unilaterally, that we should not act without a vote, and that we should not change our position in the third act."
But barring a breakthrough, Seehofer and Merkel — and with them the CSU and the CDU — are on a collision course. Seehofer meets with the leadership of the CSU on Monday in Munich, where he is expected to announce the institution of border checks on the basis of his authority as interior minister.
If that comes to pass, Merkel faces the difficult choice of backing down or either overruling or perhaps even firing Seehofer.
An unprecedented rebellion against Merkel
In one sense, this is a clash over policy. But on a deeper level it is nothing less than a struggle for control of conservatism in Germany.
Seehofer, who is also the CSU chairman, and Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder may argue that tighter migration policies are a necessity if the CSU wants to preserve its absolute majority in October's regional Bavarian election. But the many conservatives from Bavaria and beyond have also long been unhappy about Merkel's welcoming stance toward migrants and chafed under the political predominance of the four-time chancellor.
Seehofer reportedly threatened to use his position as interior minister to order border checks, if necessary, over Merkel's opposition, even before Thursday's impasse. Merkel is said to have asked for two weeks' time in the hopes that she can negotiate an acceptable alternative, perhaps by enhancing the EU's Border Control Agency, Frontex, when EU leaders come together in Brussels on June 28 and 29.
But thus far there has been no sign that the CSU is willing to give Merkel the leeway she desires.
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Originally Posted by astralis
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