Pressured Merkel still favourite after debate

GERMANY: Angela Merkel was forced to defend her controversial decision to open Germany’s borders to more than one million asylum seekers yesterday as she come under pressure in a televised election debate.

Martin Schulz, the main challenger, accused the German chancellor of a ‘‘serious mistake’’ with her ‘‘lone decision’’ and said she should have worked with European allies to find a common approach. But Merkel insisted Germany had been faced with a ‘‘very dramatic situation’’ and had no choice but to act. ‘‘That is what being chancellor is about. You have to decide,’’ she said.

The televised debate brought to life an election that has until now seemed little more than a victory procession for Merkel. With just three weeks until Germany votes on September 24, the debate was widely seen as Schulz’s last chance to lift his flagging campaign.

‘‘Integrating a million people into German society will be the task of a generation,’’ he said at one point, and at another: ‘‘Integration is not something that happens on paper.’’

But Merkel was able to present herself as the voice of experience, quoting detailed figures on immigration off the top of her head, and mentioning her recent conversations with other world leaders. In Germany, the debate format is different. There is no live audience and only the leaders of the two main parties take part.

That gave Schulz, who has repeatedly accused Merkel of dodging the issues, the chance to pin his opponent down. But while he landed some telling blows against the long-serving chancellor, Schulz failed to deliver the knockout punch his campaign badly needed. Schulz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) went into the debate 14 points behind Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), according to a poll released on Sunday. It is a gap most commentators believe is too large to make up, and there was little sign Schulz did enough last night to change the course of the election. Schulz, who was memorably described by one of the country’s top pollsters as ‘‘Merkel with a beard’’, attempted to differentiate himself from his opponent by taking a hard line on Turkey, pledging that if elected he would end EU accession talks.

‘‘Turkey has crossed every single red line,’’ he said, referring to the arrest of several German nationals. But the tactic played into the hands of Merkel, who was able to portray herself as the cooler, more pragmatic head. A similar scenario played out when the candidates were asked about Donald Trump. Schulz said the US president was ‘‘too unpredictable’’ and that Germany needs to concentrate on its ‘‘more reliable allies.’’ But Merkel emphasised the importance of keeping the lines of communication open. - Telegraph Group