Germany's Merkel vows to curb refugee numbers
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel promised Monday to curb the wave of refugees entering Germany, even as she defended her government's generous welcome for 1 million asylum-seekers who have been admitted this year.
"We want to and we will palpably reduce the number of refugees, because it's in everyone's interest," Merkel said to a standing ovation in a speech to her Christian Democratic Union at its annual conference in Karlsruhe in southern Germany.
The German leader has been under pressure from her center-right party and other members of her coalition government to cap the influx of migrants fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Eritrea and elsewhere. Europe's wealthiest nation has admitted far more refugees than any other country in Europe. When measured as a percentage of the population, only Sweden has taken in more.
Recent polls conducted for German media show that 62% of Germans want Merkel to put a fixed limit on refugees, with 36% opposed.
Merkel, who did not specify any limits on admitting future refugees, struck a defiant tone over her decision this year to open Germany's borders to the masses who are fleeing conflict zones.
"It's part of the identity of our country to do great things," she said. "This is a historic test for Europe and I want — hopefully I can say we all want — for Europe to pass this test."
Over the weekend, Merkel's party called for reducing asylum-seekers and refugees because "a continuation of the current influx would in the long term overburden the state and society, even in a country like Germany."
Merkel said the best way to ensure that reduction is to push a European Union strategy of equitably distributing refugees across the bloc's 28 members, and to work with Turkey to limit the illegal flow of people crossing its borders en route to other European destinations. She also stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to end Syria's 4-year-old civil war, which has created millions of Syrian refugees.
"We insist on European solidarity," Merkel said. "I know that the European wheels grind slowly, but we will get them grinding."
Her insistence that Germany can handle the infrastructure demands of its newcomers — schools, housing, education — comes on the heels of her being named Time magazine's "person of the year" for her role not just on the refugee crisis but in resolving Greece's debt crisis and fighting the Islamic State.