GERMAN POLITICS
Merkel’s migrant deal runs into resistance from Europe
Berlin — An 11th-hour deal clinched by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to rescue her fragile government by limiting migrant arrivals immediately ran into European resistance on Tuesday, with neighbouring Austria vowing to "protect" its borders. In high-stakes crisis talks overnight, Merkel put to rest for now a dangerous row with a longtime rival, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, that had threatened the survival of her shaky 100-day-old coalition. Looking relieved, Merkel — who has been in power since 2005 — hailed a "very good compromise" that would "control" new arrivals of migrants and asylum seekers while upholding EU co-operation and values. However, criticism from Vienna and her junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats, threatened to throw a spanner in the works. If the agreement reached is approved by the German government as a whole, "we will be obliged to take measures to avoid disadvantages for Austria and its people", Vienna’s right-wing government warned. And it ...
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