Euronews/DW: German Interior Minister and CSU party leader Horst Seehofer has offered to leave his posts over the Chancellor’s asylum policy, according to party sources.
The conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) is a coalition partner of Angela Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Berlin.
But sources said Seehofer had not yet submitted his resignation, adding that some in the party were attempting to change his mind over the decision.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has confirmed his offer of resignation, rather than back down from his stance on migration. He will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU on Monday for last-ditch talks.
Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had said earlier that his talks with the chancellor on Saturday had “not had any effect” on their conflict.
This was a direct contradiction of Merkel’s account of the encounter, delivered in an interview with public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday. Merkel argued that the deal reached with Europe would have the same effect as the CSU’s calls to start sending people away at the border if they had already applied for asylum in another EU member state.
“The sum of everything we have decided has the same effect [as national measures],” she said. “That is my personal conclusion. Of course, the CSU will have to decide that for itself.”
The interior minister slammed the deal Merkel struck over migrants with EU leaders on Friday, calling it “ineffective”.
Last week he threatened to turn asylum seekers away from Germany’s borders unless Merkel reached an acceptable deal with other EU partners.
The CSU will face a state election in Bavaria in October and has opted to take a firm stance against immigration as part of its campaign.
If Seehofer goes ahead and resigns, the move would leave Merkel once again fighting for her political life.
