“Should the federal government not take up effective measures soon to limit the entry of asylum seekers, thereby endangering the ability of Germany’s states to act independently, then Bavaria will reserve for itself a clear course of action to the Federal Constitutional Court”, state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said alongside Seehofer.
The southern German state of Bavaria on Friday threatened to take unilateral measures to halt the flow of refugees to its towns.
Mr Seehofer’s deputy Ilse Aigner said Germany could expect as many as seven million refugees, because of relatives legally joining those granted asylum in Germany.
Although in the same conservative parliamentary bloc, Seehofer, head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), is at loggerheads with Chancellor Angela Merkel over her handling of the refugee crisis. “They concluded that the United Kingdom and Germany should work even more closely together, and with other partners, on the situation in Syria, the threat from foreign fighters and on efforts to counter ISIL’s poisonous ideology”.
Amid the historic migrant influx, she implored citizens to harness the bold can-do spirit of Germany’s reunification a quarter-century ago, and to remember that granting safe haven to persecuted people is a core European ideal.
“Limiting migration is indispensable”, Seehofer said.
Rolf Clement, president of the Federal Criminal Police Office, said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio that the number of attacks on refugee homes was on the increase.
Speaking to the Bild newspaper, Mr. Seehofer said a number of gestures made by Berlin had been interpreted “in the refugee camps of the Middle East” as an open invitation to Germany, and that it was time for Mrs. Merkel to say “we remain human, we can help, but our options are limited”. He has been critical of Merkel’s refugee policy for more than a month. “We need to be very vigilant, so I repeat my demand to Berlin to limit immigration”, he added, calling for better protection of the EU’s external borders.
The Chancellor said that as head of a Christian party she refused to take part in a “competition” to discover “those who are the most unfriendly to refugees, will stop them coming in”.
ARD television has meanwhile stirred controversy for using a fake image of Merkel wearing an Islamic headscarf, criticizing her for the open-door policy for asylum seekers.
