As the incumbent, conservative Angela Merkel has the advantage of getting additional press coverage when she exercises the duties of her office, for instance, by holding her traditional summer press conference. As she fielded reporters’ questions on Tuesday in Berlin, the lines between Merkel the chancellor and Merkel the candidate weren’t always clearly demarcated. Deutsche Welle reports.
Merkel began by addressing the topic that is perhaps her Achilles’ heel, migration. She said that she had met with the leaders of France, Italy, Spain and several North African states to talk about how they could prevent human trafficking and stem the flow of migrants in the Mediterranean.
She added that the leaders had agreed upon a “common fight against the Mediterranean route” along the lines of the pact to control migration between the European Union and Turkey. But she didn’t provide any specifics.
When asked whether in her heart of hearts she was a chancellor who welcomed refugees or sought to block the flow of migrants to Europe, Merkel said that the waves of refugees in 2015 was a humanitarian “exception” that had required immediate action and not the basis of a long-term strategy. And she criticized Germany’s EU partners for not pulling their weight.
