Decisive measures have helped to appease Angela Merkel’s critics on the rightIt was the phrase that looked destined to haunt Angela Merkel for the rest of her political career. On August 31, 2015, as migrants from Syria and beyond poured into Germany, the chancellor confronted the growing army of critics of her open-door policy with the words: Wir schaffen das — We can do it. More than a million people arrived during 2015, putting a strain on resources and leading to a surge in support for the fledgling anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The worst fears of Merkel’s critics seemed to be realised that New Year’s Eve, when men largely from north Africa were blamed for sexual assaults on 1,250 women at festivities in Cologne and several other cities. Yet support for Merkel’s Christian Democratic

Source: The North Africa Journal August 29, 2020 23:09 UTC