Germany: Final Agreement Reached on Refugees, Coalition Collapse Averted

The parties of the German ruling coalition reached a compromise on Thursday evening after several weeks of dispute regarding the closure of borders for refugees and asylum seekers who are already registered in one of the European Union countries.

“The agreement is from A to Z exactly as a minister could wish for,” said Horst Seehofer, the Minister of the Interior from the CSU, after talks between the ruling parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

SPD leader Andrea Nahles expressed satisfaction with the achieved compromise after the meeting. The SPD opposed the concept of so-called transit centers at the German border where refugees registered in another country would be accommodated and from which they would be swiftly returned.

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“We agreed that there will be no unilateral national decisions and that we will not return anyone from the German border,” Nahles said.

The SPD also fought for the planned law on the immigration of skilled workers, which is also a package of measures for better regulation of migration, to be passed this year.

Regarding the controversial term transit centers, Seehofer explained that an agreement was reached on a “transit procedure in police facilities” due to the coalition partner who does not like this term.

Refugees affected by this rule would be accommodated in border police facilities, thereby legally not stepping onto German soil, and from there they would be expelled to the countries where they were first registered after entering the EU or, if that is not possible, to neighboring Austria.

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The Secretary-General of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, welcomed the agreement of the ruling coalition, which is now “united behind the goal of establishing order, directing, and limiting migration.”

The conflict over the procedure for refugees registered in another European Union country threatened the collapse of the Christian Democratic Union and thus the German government in recent weeks.

German Chancellor and CDU President Angela Merkel insisted that an agreement be reached with the EU countries affected by this measure before proceeding with this issue, while Interior Minister Seehofer wanted to implement this measure immediately and without prior agreement.