Moment of truth for Merkel migrant policy in German regional polls

2016-03-13 1

As millions of Germans vote in regional elections on Sunday, Angela Merkel says she is keeping her fingers crossed.

The Chancellor’s Christian Democrats (CDU) are widely expected to face a voter backlash over her high-risk decision last year to open Germany’s borders to refugees fleeing war in Syria.

Three polls are taking place – in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate in the west and
Saxony-Anhalt in the east.

On the campaign trail this weekend, Merkel passionately defended her migrant policy, telling a CDU rally in Baden-Wuerttemberg that: “People are suddenly there and need protection”.




'Mama Merkel' faces first test of migrant crisis handling as elections loom https://t.co/lL8DYwf8wf pic.twitter.com/bVHbI1V59y— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) 12 mars 2016





The refugee influx, totaling more than a million last year alone, has come to define Merkel’s
leadership. In power for over a decade, she has staked her reputation on it.

But her conservatives have bee