German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in an interview published Thursday that he believed the issue of migration to be the root of all political problems in the country.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th September, 2018) German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in an interview published Thursday that he believed the issue of migration to be the root of all political problems in the country.
"The migration issue gives birth to all political problems in this country. I have been saying this for three years already. And this has been confirmed by many polls. Many people now associate their social anxieties with the migration issue," Seehofer told the Rheinische Post daily.
At the same time, the minister noted that it has been difficult to reach a common European solution this problem.
"Let's take, for example, our agreement with Italy � for every migrant we return, we must take back one another. This is a zero-sum game � it creates order but no restrictions," the minister added.
Seehofer also commented on the recent violent events in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, stating that "such situations cost us the public's trust."
Chemnitz has seen a wave of mass anti-immigrant rallies and counterprotests in recent weeks, with thousands of people, including far-right radicals, taking to the streets. The rallies were sparked by the murder of a German citizen on August 26, allegedly at the hands of two migrants of Iraqi and Syrian decent, who have since been arrested. Around 18 people have been injured and hundreds have been detained, according to media reports.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, did not express support to Seehofer's words.
"I will say differently. I will say that the issue of migration creates challenges for us. There are problems, but there is progress as well," Merkel told the RTL broadcaster later in the day.
According to the chancellor, numerous efforts have been taken to cope with the migrant crisis, and the current situation is completely different from the situation in the fall of 2015, though there is still much work to do.
"We can tell people that this situation will not happen again because we took care of this in advance in different ways," Merkel added.
As an example, the German leader mentioned the EU migration deal with Turkey and agreements reached with African states.
According to the 2016 deal with Ankara, the sides agreed that Syrian refugees arriving in Greece would be returned to Turkey if their claim for asylum was rejected, while Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey would be resettled in Europe on a one-for-one basis. Brussels, in turn, vowed to provide financial aid to the country to cover the costs of migrant reception, among other measures.
Germany has been one of the EU states which have accepted the largest number of people since Europe's migration crisis erupted in 2015. Berlin's open-door policy, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the country from the middle East and North Africa, has prompted criticism from those claiming that the security situation in the country has worsened due to the influx of migrants.
