Merkel COLLAPSE threat: ‘No pity’ from EU if German leader falls in migrant crisis row
ANGELA Merkel has been warned there could be little sympathy for her if her coalition government crumbles over the bitter migrant crisis feud blowing a gaping hole in Germany’s political landscape.
Farage says 'Merkel will be GONE' within weeks
The country’s three-month-old coalition could soon collapse after hours of talks between the German Chancellor and her Bavarian allies on Tuesday failed to resolve the migrant crisis row.
Ms Merkel now heads to an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday - with some suggesting it could be her last - hoping that her European allies will at least help her find a solution to the problem that has threatened her leadership.
But even sympathisers have questioned whether this will even be enough to ensure her survival.
One adviser to an EU premier told the Financial Times: “I don’t want to predict how it ends. Some will say: let her suffer and let her fall.
“She has tonnes of enemies around the table who would be happy to see her gone. They will have no pity.”
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“Yet the adviser added: “If we lose her, we are in trouble. Real trouble.”
But when arriving for the crucial meeting in Brussels tomorrow, the German Chancellor could find many other leaders refusing to fully back her.
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has always expressed an anti-migration line that echoes that of other right-wing EU leaders, such as Austria’s Sebastian Kurz and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, both of whom are strongly opposed to Ms Merkel’s “everyone welcome” policy.
Gerald Knaus, head of the European Stability Incentive think-tank, told the Financial Times: “What unites these politicians is not the refugee issue, but their common struggle against Ms Merkel.”
Susi Dennison of the European Council on Foreign Relations added that “if other countries feel we’re coming to the end of the Merkel era, they will be even less willing to give her a helping hand, especially if that brings them no benefits at home”.
But former Finnish Prime Minister Alex Stubb is more optimistic on her survival.
He said: “Never underestimate her capacity to get out of difficult situations.
“I have never, ever seen anyone able to negotiate her way through difficult situations with such calmness.”
Angela Merkel is at odds with her own Interior Minister Horst Seehofer who wants to send migrants back who have registered in other EU states at the German border.
This would mark a full turnaround for the German Chancellor as it would undermine her open-door migrant policy and be a major blow to the EU’s Schengen free border system.
Ms Merkel’s coalition partner the CSU has given her until the end of this week to agree migrant policies with EU partners that will reduce the burden on Germany.
The CSU will meet on Sunday over whether to press ahead and defy Ms Merkel by introducing their own controls.
