End smuggling and slavery, and allow legal migration for Africans, says Merkel
With more than a million migrants coming into Germany on her watch, Merkel is battling to create a coalition government
Abidjan — On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of ending smuggling and slavery while creating a legal route for Africans to come to Europe as she faces pressure at home to tackle a migrant influx. Speaking at an EU-Africa summit in Abidjan, Merkel is looking to show that Germany can take foreign policy action despite still being under a caretaker government two months after an election. The influx of more than a million migrants since mid-2015, many of them fleeing the Middle East and Africa, was largely to blame for the rise of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the September 24 election. By taking votes from Merkel’s conservative bloc and others, they surged into parliament for the first time, leaving Merkel facing complicated coalition arithmetic. She is grappling to form a new government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) after discussions on forming a three-way tie-up with the pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens ...
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