Migrant crisis: Angela Merkel's deadpan mask slips

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34474153

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German chancellor Angela Merkel has made a rare appearance on a German television talk show, to defend her refugee policy. She is famed for her deadpan delivery. Yet, as she was repeatedly questioned over her open-door refugee policy, the mask slipped.

The German online newspaper Spiegel described it as "the most honest government statement", because Mrs Merkel's frustration was obvious.

"We are in an extraordinary situation," she said.

The chancellor has been under pressure for weeks after her decision to temporarily suspend the Dublin protocol to allow thousands of migrants to travel from Budapest into Germany.

Since then a record number of people have arrived here; government figures reveal at least 164,000 refugees and migrants entered Germany in September alone.

"I didn't create this," Mrs Merkel said. "I had to react and change an extraordinary situation into a controlled situation but we have to deal with it now."

It's tempting to wonder whether the chancellor is losing control.

She continues to defiantly defend her open-door refugee policy. It has won her international plaudits but it's causing consternation at home.

Her approval ratings are sliding, a growing number of Germans are turning out to anti-refugee demonstrations (last night 8,000 people supported a demonstration organised by the populist party Alternative for Germany, AfD) and political pressure is growing.

Taking control

Thirty-four of her own conservative local party leaders have written to her, accusing her of pursuing a policy that is nether part of her party's programme or in line with German and European law. It's time, they say, for Germany to start turning people away at the border.

They've provoked a rather irritable response.

"We can't close the borders," Mrs Merkel said. "We carry out checks there but there are 3,000 kilometres of border - do you want to erect a fence all the way along it? People will still find ways to come; there is no stop to the influx.

"I think about it all day, I think what are the possibilities. We can protect the outer European border better but even that won't stop people from coming."

If anything, Mrs Merkel is pursuing her policy more single-mindedly than ever before. In fact - in a move which effectively sidelines her Interior Minister, Thomas de Maiziere - she has just brought day-to-day control of the refugee crisis under her own roof.

The chancellery and her chief-of-staff, Peter Altmaier, will now manage the situation.

Increasingly, it seems like a personal crusade. She claims she's simply exemplifying the Christian values of the CDU. But her language is emotional:

"I'm proud that we are receiving refugees in a friendly and open manner. I don't want to compete to be the country which does best at scaring off refugees."

The chancellor had of course hoped for more support from her European neighbours. Nevertheless, she's pledged to keep chipping away at reluctant EU member states to create longer-term solutions.

She's taken flak for her willingness to work with Turkey. "It's my damned duty," she snapped in response.

But while it's tempting to see the chancellor as an isolated figure, hell-bent on an unpopular policy which will bring down her chancellorship, it's worth noting that (perhaps now with the exception of Mr de Maiziere), her cabinet is solidly behind her.

Only a handful of senior MPs have broken rank to publicly criticise her. There is no serious pretender to her crown. In every affected German town and city, thousands of people are volunteering their time, money and possessions to help the refugees. And the next general election is still two years away.