Merkel admits Eu's migration dilemma
Chancellor Angela
BERLIN — Merkel of Germany warned Thursday that the issue of migration could make or break the European Union, delivering her strongest assessment yet of the simmering political crisis on the Continent just hours before a difficult meeting with fellow leaders.
“Europe faces many challenges,” Merkel, whose own
political fate has been hanging in the balance over her welcoming stance on migra
tion, told the German Parliament before leaving for the union’s two-day summit in Brussels. “But that of migration could become one that determines the fate of the European Union.”
The summit was originally supposed to focus on changes to solidify the euro currency
and on Britain’s exit from the bloc. It has swerved instead to migration, which has become
politically poisonous given the rise of populist, anti-im
migrant parties, despite the rapid fall in the numbers of migrants arriving in Europe.
The new, populist govern- ment in Italy has insisted on changing the regulations that govern migration into the European Union, saying
that as a country of first land- ing, it has had enough. Italy has started to turn away ships that rescue migrants at sea.
At the same time, Merkel faces a rebellion by Bavarian conservatives over the issue of immigration that threatens to bring down her government. Her Bavarian interior minister has warned that he will disobey her and establish a hard border with Austria unless she strikes a deal with European leaders to stem the flow of migrants into Germany from other European countries.
So Merkel came to Brussels to try to reach the kind of accord on limiting migration that has eluded the European Union for many years. After an informal preliminary meeting on the subject last week
end, European leaders will discuss migration over dinner. But the leaders are concentrating more on shoring up Europe’s borders.