German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday discussed overcapacity in world steel markets and agreed to work on solutions within the framework of the G20 group of industrialised nations, Merkel`s spokesman said.

The two leaders emphasised close ties between the two countries, which are both facing planned U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs, and agreed to deepen the strategic partnership between them, Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

He said Merkel invited the Chinese government to visit Berlin for consultations, and Xi invited Merkel to visit China. They also discussed the current situation in North Korea regarding its nuclear and missile development efforts.&nbsp;

The two leaders emphasised close ties between the two countries

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday discussed overcapacity in world steel markets and agreed to work on solutions within the framework of the G20 group of industrialised nations, Merkel`s spokesman said. The two leaders emphasised close ties between the two countries, which are both facing planned U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs, and agreed to deepen the strategic partnership between them, Steffen Seibert said in a statement. He said Merkel invited the Chinese government to visit Berlin for consultations, and Xi invited Merkel to visit China. They also discussed the current situation in North Korea regarding its nuclear and missile development efforts.

Merkel, Xi agree to work on steel overcapacity within G20

New Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Islam does not belong to Germany and set out hardline immigration policies in an interview published on Friday, as he sought to see off rising far-right challengers.

Seehofer told Bild newspaper he would push through a &quot;master plan for quicker deportations&quot;, in his first major interview since he was sworn into office on Wednesday.

The minister - a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel&#39;s CSU Bavarian allies who are further to the right than her own Christian Democrats (CDU) - said he would also classify more states as &#39;safe&#39; countries of origin, which would make it easier to deport failed asylum seekers.

The statements come after Merkel&#39;s conservatives, and their coalition allies - the Social Democrats - lost ground to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in elections last year.

Seehofer is particularly keen to show his party is tackling immigration ahead of Bavaria&#39;s October regional election when the AfD is expected to enter that state assembly.

&quot;Islam does not belong to Germany,&quot; Seehofer said, contradicting former German president Christian Wulff who fuelled a debate over immigration in 2010 by saying Islam was part of Germany.

In 2015 Merkel echoed Wulff&#39;s words at a time when anti-immigration campaign group PEGIDA - or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West - was holding marches.

&quot;Of course the Muslims living here do belong to Germany,&quot; Seehofer said before going on to say Germany should not give up its own traditions or customs, which had Christianity at their heart.

&quot;My message is: Muslims need to live with us, not next to us or against us,&quot; he said.

The government estimates between 4.4 and 4.7 million Muslims are living in Germany. Many of them have a Turkish background and many of the more than a million migrants who have arrived in the country from the Middle East and elsewhere after Merkel adopted an open-door policy in mid-2015 are also Muslims.

Andre Poggenburg, head of the AfD in the eastern state of Saxony, said Seehofer was copying his party with a view to Bavaria&#39;s October regional election: &quot;Horst Seehofer has taken this message from our manifesto word for word,&quot; he said.

The far-left Linke and Greens condemned Seehofer&#39;s message, and the Social Democrats&#39; Natascha Kohnen told broadcaster n-tv: &quot;Saying that incites people against each other at a time when we really don&#39;t need that. What we really need is politicians who bring people together.&quot;

In a coalition agreement, Merkel&#39;s CDU/CSU conservative bloc and the Social Democrats agreed they would manage and limit migration to Germany and Europe to avoid a re-run of the 2015 refugee crisis.

They also said they did not expect migration (excluding labour migration) to rise above the range of 180,000 to 220,000 per year.

'My message is: Muslims need to live with us, not next to us or against us,' new Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said

New Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Islam does not belong to Germany and set out hardline immigration policies in an interview published on Friday, as he sought to see off rising far-right challengers. Seehofer told Bild newspaper he would push through a "master plan for quicker deportations", in his first major interview since he was sworn into office on Wednesday. The minister - a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CSU Bavarian allies who are further to the right than her own Christian Democrats (CDU) - said he would also classify more states as 'safe' countries of origin, which would make it easier to deport failed asylum seekers. The statements come after Merkel's conservatives, and their coalition allies - the Social Democrats - lost ground to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in elections last year. Seehofer is particularly keen to show his party is tackling immigration ahead of Bavaria's October regional election when the AfD is expected to enter that state assembly. "Islam does not belong to Germany," Seehofer said, contradicting former German president Christian Wulff who fuelled a debate over immigration in 2010 by saying Islam was part of Germany. In 2015 Merkel echoed Wulff's words at a time when anti-immigration campaign group PEGIDA - or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West - was holding marches. "Of course the Muslims living here do belong to Germany," Seehofer said before going on to say Germany should not give up its own traditions or customs, which had Christianity at their heart. "My message is: Muslims need to live with us, not next to us or against us," he said. The government estimates between 4.4 and 4.7 million Muslims are living in Germany. Many of them have a Turkish background and many of the more than a million migrants who have arrived in the country from the Middle East and elsewhere after Merkel adopted an open-door policy in mid-2015 are also Muslims. Andre Poggenburg, head of the AfD in the eastern state of Saxony, said Seehofer was copying his party with a view to Bavaria's October regional election: "Horst Seehofer has taken this message from our manifesto word for word," he said. The far-left Linke and Greens condemned Seehofer's message, and the Social Democrats' Natascha Kohnen told broadcaster n-tv: "Saying that incites people against each other at a time when we really don't need that. What we really need is politicians who bring people together." In a coalition agreement, Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative bloc and the Social Democrats agreed they would manage and limit migration to Germany and Europe to avoid a re-run of the 2015 refugee crisis. They also said they did not expect migration (excluding labour migration) to rise above the range of 180,000 to 220,000 per year.

Facing far-right challenge, minister says Islam doesn't belong to Germany

Angela Merkel does not want Germany&rsquo;s national anthem to be changed, her spokesman said after a member of the chancellor&rsquo;s Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partner said words such as &ldquo;fatherland&rdquo; and &ldquo;brotherland&rdquo; should be made gender neutral.

The SPD&rsquo;s Kristin Rose-Moehring, equality commissioner for Germany since 2001, wrote to family ministry staff to suggest striking male-specific references in the &ldquo;Song of Germany&rdquo;, which has been Germany&rsquo;s national anthem since 1922, media reported on Sunday.

The reports surfaced shortly before the SPD announced that two-thirds of its members had voted in favor of joining an alliance with Merkel&rsquo;s conservatives, with whom they have been in power since 2013. That paves the way for a new government under Merkel to start work in mid-March.

Rose-Moehring proposed replacing &ldquo;Vaterland&rdquo; (fatherland) in the anthem with &ldquo;Heimatland&rdquo; (homeland) and ditching &ldquo;brotherly with heart and hand&rdquo; in favor of &ldquo;courageously with heart and hand&rdquo;.

But Merkel deems any such tweaks unnecessary.

&ldquo;The chancellor is very happy with our nice national anthem as it is in its traditional form and doesn&rsquo;t see any need for change,&rdquo; spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference on Monday.

A spokesman for the family ministry said Rose-Moehring&rsquo;s letter had been a personal proposal and he could not comment on it, especially as it was an internal letter to employees at the family ministry.

The first stanza of the anthem, which declares &ldquo;Germany, Germany above all else&rdquo; - reflecting efforts to unify Germany in the 19th century - and the second, with its refrain of &ldquo;German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song&rdquo; were officially dropped in 1991 following reunification.

Kristin Rose-Moehring, equality commissioner since 2001, made the proposal to strike male-specific references from the anthem in a letter to staff at Germany’s family ministry ahead of International Women’s Day, German media reported on Sunday

Angela Merkel does not want Germany’s national anthem to be changed, her spokesman said after a member of the chancellor’s Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partner said words such as “fatherland” and “brotherland” should be made gender neutral. The SPD’s Kristin Rose-Moehring, equality commissioner for Germany since 2001, wrote to family ministry staff to suggest striking male-specific references in the “Song of Germany”, which has been Germany’s national anthem since 1922, media reported on Sunday. The reports surfaced shortly before the SPD announced that two-thirds of its members had voted in favor of joining an alliance with Merkel’s conservatives, with whom they have been in power since 2013. That paves the way for a new government under Merkel to start work in mid-March. Rose-Moehring proposed replacing “Vaterland” (fatherland) in the anthem with “Heimatland” (homeland) and ditching “brotherly with heart and hand” in favor of “courageously with heart and hand”. But Merkel deems any such tweaks unnecessary. “The chancellor is very happy with our nice national anthem as it is in its traditional form and doesn’t see any need for change,” spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference on Monday. A spokesman for the family ministry said Rose-Moehring’s letter had been a personal proposal and he could not comment on it, especially as it was an internal letter to employees at the family ministry. The first stanza of the anthem, which declares “Germany, Germany above all else” - reflecting efforts to unify Germany in the 19th century - and the second, with its refrain of “German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song” were officially dropped in 1991 following reunification.

Merkel rejects plea to make national anthem gender-neutral

The members of Germany&#39;s second-biggest party have in their high-stakes referendum approved a plan to join Chancellor Angela Merkel&#39;s coalition, German media reported Sunday.

Quoting unnamed party sources, German public broadcaster ZDF and Bild daily said the Social Democratic Party&#39;s rank and file voted &quot;yes&quot; to a new partnership with Merkel&#39;s conservatives.

The party&#39;s leadership is due to announce the results shortly.

The make or break vote was the last hurdle in the way of Merkel&#39;s fourth term in office and essentially ends a political stalemate that has plagued the country since September&#39;s inconclusive elections.

Stung by their worst post-war results, the SPD had initially ruled out another four years under Merkel&#39;s shadow.&nbsp;

But after Merkel&#39;s attempt to cobble together a government with two smaller parties failed, the SPD relented while promising its more than 460,000 members the final say on any coalition deal.

The members of Germany's second-biggest party have in their high-stakes referendum approved a plan to join Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, German media reported Sunday

The members of Germany's second-biggest party have in their high-stakes referendum approved a plan to join Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, German media reported Sunday. Quoting unnamed party sources, German public broadcaster ZDF and Bild daily said the Social Democratic Party's rank and file voted "yes" to a new partnership with Merkel's conservatives. The party's leadership is due to announce the results shortly. The make or break vote was the last hurdle in the way of Merkel's fourth term in office and essentially ends a political stalemate that has plagued the country since September's inconclusive elections. Stung by their worst post-war results, the SPD had initially ruled out another four years under Merkel's shadow. But after Merkel's attempt to cobble together a government with two smaller parties failed, the SPD relented while promising its more than 460,000 members the final say on any coalition deal.

Germany's SPD approve new coalition with Merkel: Media

German Chancellor <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/maldives-president-abdulla-yameen-backs-chinas-obor-signs-mou-26163">Angela Merkel today questioned</a> China&#39;s intention in the Balkans over its move to further &quot;free trade&quot; agreements.

China has invested <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/over-trump-xi-meet-china-seeks-us-approval-for-obor-23916">heavily in crisis-hit Greece </a>with an aim to purchase the Piraeus port, also in Macedonia, the communist state has been helping to develop highways.

The German Chancellor said: &quot;I have no objections to the fact that China wants to trade ... and to invest,&quot;&nbsp;adding, &quot;We are committed to free trade.&quot;

However, she stressed that &quot;The question is ... are the economic relations being linked with political questions it must be &quot;reciprocal&quot; and that openness must come &quot;not just from one side but from all sides&quot;.

China has already made its intention clear over its One Belt, One Road(OBOR) initiative which strives to link Asia with Europe to create a single market for the Communist state, however, several European countries including India fear it would also mean&nbsp;China would seek to softly subvert the poor countries in its ambitious march.

Chinese companies are reportedly on a buying spree to acquire ports across Europe. Last month, two Chinese companies finalised the takeover of a terminal in &nbsp;Zeebrugge, a port in Belgium.

Chinese firms have also finalised similar deals in Italy and Spain.

French President Macron on a recent China visit had warned that some European countries are much more open to Chinese interests, &quot;sometimes at the expense of a European interest&quot;.

German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel echoing Merkel&#39;s thoughts had warned earlier that &quot;if we don&#39;t develop a European strategy regarding China, then China will succeed in dividing Europe&quot;.

Ahead of British PM Theresa May&#39;s visit last month, China&#39;s foreign ministry had said the Belt and Road initiative (OBOR) has &quot;huge potential&quot; and &quot;broad prospects for China and Britain.&quot;

The British PM, however, sidestepped the issue and did not sign any agreement related to the Silk route project.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker too had last year weighed into the debate warning about foreign purchases of ports, without naming China.

China has invested heavily in crisis-hit Greece with an aim to purchase the Piraeus port

German Chancellor Angela Merkel today questioned China's intention in the Balkans over its move to further "free trade" agreements. China has invested heavily in crisis-hit Greece with an aim to purchase the Piraeus port, also in Macedonia, the communist state has been helping to develop highways. The German Chancellor said: "I have no objections to the fact that China wants to trade ... and to invest," adding, "We are committed to free trade." However, she stressed that "The question is ... are the economic relations being linked with political questions it must be "reciprocal" and that openness must come "not just from one side but from all sides". China has already made its intention clear over its One Belt, One Road(OBOR) initiative which strives to link Asia with Europe to create a single market for the Communist state, however, several European countries including India fear it would also mean China would seek to softly subvert the poor countries in its ambitious march. Chinese companies are reportedly on a buying spree to acquire ports across Europe. Last month, two Chinese companies finalised the takeover of a terminal in Zeebrugge, a port in Belgium. Chinese firms have also finalised similar deals in Italy and Spain. French President Macron on a recent China visit had warned that some European countries are much more open to Chinese interests, "sometimes at the expense of a European interest". German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel echoing Merkel's thoughts had warned earlier that "if we don't develop a European strategy regarding China, then China will succeed in dividing Europe". Ahead of British PM Theresa May's visit last month, China's foreign ministry had said the Belt and Road initiative (OBOR) has "huge potential" and "broad prospects for China and Britain." The British PM, however, sidestepped the issue and did not sign any agreement related to the Silk route project. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker too had last year weighed into the debate warning about foreign purchases of ports, without naming China.

OBOR row: Now, German Chancellor Merkel raises doubts on China's investments in Europe

German Chancellor Angela Merkel&#39;s conservatives entered coalition talks Sunday with knotty issues still to untangle with their historic centre-left rivals, but a deal could finally be in sight.

Merkel professed her &quot;good will, but also some expectation that there will be tough hours of talks ahead&quot; as her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) negotiators arrived at Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters in Berlin.

&quot;We will have to negotiate very, very intensively today&quot; especially on areas of social policy like labour law, healthcare reform and housing, SPD chief Martin Schulz said, adding that the wrangling could go on &quot;until late in the evening or the night&quot;.

Even more important than speedy progress was a &quot;dependable coalition agreement that achieves consensus&quot; for a stable government, he continued.

More than four months after an election beating for both parties, leaders hope to wrap up talks on repeating the &quot;grand coalition&quot; or &quot;GroKo&quot; that has ruled since 2013 by Sunday evening, with the option of extending into Monday or Tuesday.

Germany&#39;s partners abroad are watching impatiently from the sidelines, as Berlin has been paralysed since September on urgent issues like reform of the European Union.

Both sides are reluctant to compromise too much and risk losing support but are equally fearful of going back to voters in repeat elections that could see a further rise of the far-right.

Neither can they afford to dig in their heels, as a poll for ARD television showed 71 percent of people do not understand &quot;why forming a government is taking so long&quot;.

At stake for Merkel is whether she leads a stable coalition into her fourth term, or risks a fragile minority government or new elections.

The SPD is a reluctant partner, having initially vowed to go into opposition after plunging to a historic low vote share of 20.5 percent in September.

Social Democrats agreed to talks only after Merkel&#39;s soundings with two smaller parties, the ecologist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, fell through.

Challenged by rebels within his own ranks, SPD leader Martin Schulz has sought political cover by putting any final coalition deal to a vote by all 440,000 members. Kevin Kuehnert, leader of the SPD youth wing, has become a standard bearer for opponents of a new deal with Merkel.

&quot;This kind of politics was rewarded with a 14 percentage point drop (for CDU and SPD combined) last year, and I suspect things will continue that way&quot; if the coalition materialises, he has said.

Others warn the SPD is too weak to face voters again so soon, garnering 18 percent in some polls -- just a few points ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Merkel too faces grumbling among her troops, with more conservative voices accusing her of marching her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) too far into the political centre, giving up terrain to the AfD. Meanwhile, the press has scented the end of an era approaching.

Eight years of GroKo under Merkel -- from 2005-09 and again from 2013-17 -- had shown that &quot;the lowest common denominator achieves nothing as long as there is no overarching idea,&quot; commented Stefan Braun for the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Public backbiting between the parties had highlighted how &quot;hesitant, quarrelsome, demoralising and above all uninspiring&quot; the whole process was, he wrote.

Merkel and Schulz should offer honest, ambitious answers to the country`s big challenges or &quot;leave the way clear for new leaders or new elections&quot;. The far-right has profited from public fears about the arrival of more than one million migrants and refugees since 2015.

It dances along the line between widespread concern over the effort that integrating so many new arrivals will take and outright racism, xenophobia and conspiracy theories.

And the AfD&#39;s entry into parliament, complicating coalition arithmetic, is largely what has forced the unwilling CDU and SPD together again.

Merkel&#39;s struggles to form a government have had consequences abroad with some now looking to Paris and youthful President Emmanuel Macron of France for leadership rather than to Berlin.

Germany -- a vital partner for reforming the EU -- has been guardedly open to some of Macron`s grand plans for the bloc.

But Schulz, a former European Parliament president, has founded his decision to enter talks with Merkel on determination to seize the hand proffered by France.

&quot;The fight for a stronger, renewed Europe&quot; must be top of the new government`s to-do list, he declared last week.

Social Democrats agreed to talks only after Merkel's soundings with two smaller parties

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives entered coalition talks Sunday with knotty issues still to untangle with their historic centre-left rivals, but a deal could finally be in sight. Merkel professed her "good will, but also some expectation that there will be tough hours of talks ahead" as her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) negotiators arrived at Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters in Berlin. "We will have to negotiate very, very intensively today" especially on areas of social policy like labour law, healthcare reform and housing, SPD chief Martin Schulz said, adding that the wrangling could go on "until late in the evening or the night". Even more important than speedy progress was a "dependable coalition agreement that achieves consensus" for a stable government, he continued. More than four months after an election beating for both parties, leaders hope to wrap up talks on repeating the "grand coalition" or "GroKo" that has ruled since 2013 by Sunday evening, with the option of extending into Monday or Tuesday. Germany's partners abroad are watching impatiently from the sidelines, as Berlin has been paralysed since September on urgent issues like reform of the European Union. Both sides are reluctant to compromise too much and risk losing support but are equally fearful of going back to voters in repeat elections that could see a further rise of the far-right. Neither can they afford to dig in their heels, as a poll for ARD television showed 71 percent of people do not understand "why forming a government is taking so long". At stake for Merkel is whether she leads a stable coalition into her fourth term, or risks a fragile minority government or new elections. The SPD is a reluctant partner, having initially vowed to go into opposition after plunging to a historic low vote share of 20.5 percent in September. Social Democrats agreed to talks only after Merkel's soundings with two smaller parties, the ecologist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, fell through. Challenged by rebels within his own ranks, SPD leader Martin Schulz has sought political cover by putting any final coalition deal to a vote by all 440,000 members. Kevin Kuehnert, leader of the SPD youth wing, has become a standard bearer for opponents of a new deal with Merkel. "This kind of politics was rewarded with a 14 percentage point drop (for CDU and SPD combined) last year, and I suspect things will continue that way" if the coalition materialises, he has said. Others warn the SPD is too weak to face voters again so soon, garnering 18 percent in some polls -- just a few points ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Merkel too faces grumbling among her troops, with more conservative voices accusing her of marching her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) too far into the political centre, giving up terrain to the AfD. Meanwhile, the press has scented the end of an era approaching. Eight years of GroKo under Merkel -- from 2005-09 and again from 2013-17 -- had shown that "the lowest common denominator achieves nothing as long as there is no overarching idea," commented Stefan Braun for the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Public backbiting between the parties had highlighted how "hesitant, quarrelsome, demoralising and above all uninspiring" the whole process was, he wrote. Merkel and Schulz should offer honest, ambitious answers to the country`s big challenges or "leave the way clear for new leaders or new elections". The far-right has profited from public fears about the arrival of more than one million migrants and refugees since 2015. It dances along the line between widespread concern over the effort that integrating so many new arrivals will take and outright racism, xenophobia and conspiracy theories. And the AfD's entry into parliament, complicating coalition arithmetic, is largely what has forced the unwilling CDU and SPD together again. Merkel's struggles to form a government have had consequences abroad with some now looking to Paris and youthful President Emmanuel Macron of France for leadership rather than to Berlin. Germany -- a vital partner for reforming the EU -- has been guardedly open to some of Macron`s grand plans for the bloc. But Schulz, a former European Parliament president, has founded his decision to enter talks with Merkel on determination to seize the hand proffered by France. "The fight for a stronger, renewed Europe" must be top of the new government`s to-do list, he declared last week.

Merkel enters final stretch in coalition-building marathon

The Alternative For Germany (AFD) has taken a strident stance against German Chancellor Angela Merkel&rsquo;s admission of millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Islamic states in North Africa.

The party which is being termed &ldquo;extreme right wing&rdquo; is slated to change Germany&rsquo;s post-WWII history dramatically on Sunday, September 24 when it is predicted to win almost 10% of the vote in general elections and enter Germany&rsquo;s Bundestag or parliament for the first time.

In an exclusive chat just two days before Germany&rsquo;s general election, AFD&rsquo;s senior board member and Chief of Lower Saxony, Armin-Paul Hampel tells WION&rsquo;s Sr Foreign Editor Padma Rao Sundarji that it is Muslims from countries with Islamist terrorist presence -and not Indians &ndash; whom his party does not welcome in Germany. 
&nbsp; 
Q:&nbsp;Armin-Paul Hampel, you are an award-winning television journalist (&quot;IN GANDHI&rsquo;S FOOTSTEPS&rdquo;) who have been based here in India and elsewhere and have stayed loyal to your old Indian friends. Your kids were born in India, at one point they spoke Hindi but no German. Your family had integrated well here. In 2013, you co-founded Alternative For Germany (AFD) &nbsp;a party that has been termed extreme rightwing by the international and German media. AFD wants no foreigners in Germany. Does that include Indians? &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
A:&nbsp;Not at all ! I lived in India for 11 years, why should I change my opinion about India? In fact, even the opinion of AFD is not as you describe.

It&rsquo;s a different story. We have a problem with about 1 million people from northern Africa who migrated to Germany in 2015. In keeping with the German constitution, we have to offer shelter people who are political refugees and my party agrees that such people are welcome to come to our country.

But in reality, only 15-20% of those 1 million people were political refugees. The rest had economic reasons for coming here. To that, my party says it is too much, Germany cannot afford it, we cannot finance them. And that we must find better and more solutions for people who are trying to migrate from Arab and Muslim countries into Germany. India is not affected at all. 
&nbsp; 
Q:&nbsp;All German governments have, in recent years, campaigned aggressively in India to attract Indian students and professionals to come to Germany. There is reportedly a huge shortfall of IT talent there. Your party is slated to change 70 years of German history by being the first rightwing party to enter the Bundestag on Sunday. Will AFD support the continuation of this canvassing for Indian talent? 
&nbsp; 
A: Absolutely &ndash; that is the point. Look, since 2013 - the year we founded our party, we have been asking for a migration law in Germany. Once, we had a blue card, similar to the American green card. AFD has been saying Germany wants people who are well-trained to come and take up jobs here. We have a need for well-trained and well-educated people and there are a lot in India. &nbsp;

But because we are a German-speaking country, &nbsp;people from India are unfortunately not so willing to come here. But we will still continue to invite them if they have good qualifications, experts in the one or another important subject, good engineers or in the IT&nbsp;branch. That&rsquo;s not the problem.

The problem is that we have a different situation in Arab countries like Syria, Iraq and others where there is war, some other crisis or unstable governments. We are asking for better support from the United Nations, which, unbelievably reduced its budget in 2015.

We want the UN to increase its budget, send experts to Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, and armed with a robust mandate of the UN, establish safe havens over there with the help of NATO and local troops to protect such refugees. &nbsp;

But spending billions of Euros to get people from an 8000-mile distance &ndash; from the Bosphorus, from Arab countries &ndash; into Germany &ndash; is just wrong. These people have different cultures, different ethnic backgrounds, a different religion.

Many are not well-educated, some never went to school at all. All this makes it difficult for them to adapt to Germany. We do want to help. But we at AFD say that we should do that by investing the money right there, on the spot &ndash; for good medicare, &nbsp;safe housing, good education, etc. That would be far more effective than transporting 1 million people across thousands of miles to Germany. 
&nbsp; 
Q:&nbsp;You are set to make history by entering parliament on Sunday. This is an era of coalitions. And that means compromise. Which of your beliefs, goals will AFD be willing to compromise or tweak if you are part of one such coalition? &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
A: We want to learn parliamentarianism to start with and we&rsquo;ll do that by sitting in the opposition for a start. We are not thinking of joining any coalitions at this time.

Instead, we want to prepare ourselves to be able to take on greater responsibility in 2021, when the next general elections will be due.

Under normal circumstances, it is hardly possible for a party that was founded only four years ago to cross the 5% vote share hurdle to enter parliament. &nbsp;But we achieved 4.8 percent in 2013 itself, barely a few months after we established AFD.

This means that times are changing in Germany. &nbsp;Maybe a lot of people are not voting for the AFD, but are really voting for an alternative per se. &nbsp;Be it the CDU, SPD, FDP, Greens or Left, most Germans have lost their faith in the established parties. Those parties represent an Old Boys Club today. They are simply not capable of solving even today&rsquo;s problems, let alone those of tomorrow. 
&nbsp; 
Q:&nbsp;You may say all these things. But you cannot deny that you are a right-wing party with startling views&hellip; 
&nbsp; 
A: Our political opponents always try to push us into that &ldquo;right wing&rdquo;&rdquo; corner. May I tell you that we have many members who were once with the other parties? Be it CDU or SPD, be it the FDP or Greens.

Nobody can say these people all suddenly turned hardcore right wing. Actually, we at AFD are neither left nor right. We are in the centre, we are trying to establish a party which is able to balance facts, access accurate figures, think about them and then decide. This ideology of &quot;Left&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;Right&quot;&nbsp;that was created in the 20th century has been terrible not only for Germany but also Europe and must be abandoned.

We want neither Left&nbsp;nor Right but normal human understanding and the human brain to decide matters &ndash; that&rsquo;s our way. The Old Boys Club of the established parties realise that that there is a new power emerging. That&rsquo;s why they have been trying hard to keep us out. It&rsquo;s like anywhere in the world. They will try again next Sunday. And they will fail. Rest assured we will be in the Bundestag with not merely 5%, but more than 10%. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Q: If you are neither Left nor Right, how come the AFD attracts so many skinheads and extreme right-wing supporters? &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
A: One has to admit that World War II and Nazism in Germany is very much still a topic. But many people reduce our entire history to those 12 terrible years. Germany is actually 1200 years old and Deutschland is a German empire. Yes, the Nazi past was part of our history, a horrible part. But we have been in existence for much longer.

Certain Germans have a problem accepting this fact. Since 1945, Germany has changed so much. We have taken responsibility in all fields, we have accepted our lot due to our history. It is the same in India. When you reflect upon your history, you feel self-confident and proud of your nation. So why should we Germans not be proud about ours, when we have given the world so much? &nbsp;Science, music, literature, architecture? We say - let&rsquo;s be proud of those aspects. We don&rsquo;t have to talk only about 12 dark years all the time, there are 1200 others we can live happily with and be proud of. Maybe some Germans have a problem with that &ndash; we don&rsquo;t. &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Q: Opinon polls can&rsquo;t predict whether the CDU will form a coalition with the FDP or others. But it will be a coalition, that&rsquo;s almost certain. Which constellation would be most preferable to the AFD? &nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
A: I think all established parties will lose in terms of percentage. People have lost their faith in them. At this moment, tax rates in Germany are the highest in the world. There are a number of problems besetting crucial fields like defence, science, infrastructure, etc. No proper decisions are being taken. Therefore, it really doesn&rsquo;t matter who will choose to co-habit with whom in a coalition.

It&rsquo;s one big Old Boys Club and they all stick together anyway. And because they want to cling to power, they don&rsquo;t have the will, nor the tools, nor the instruments, nor the will to change policies and forge a better future for our country. It&rsquo;s just the Old Boys Club &ndash; and none of them matter. We want to be the new club in Germany. 
&nbsp; 
Q:&nbsp;Please summarize one last time: whom is the AFD against? All foreigners? Only those with an Islamic background? Or foreigners who don&rsquo;t adapt to Germany? After all, there are many well-integrated Germans of Turkish origin who are perfectly integrated in Germany&hellip;. 
&nbsp; 
A: First of all, we have people from all over the world in our country. The reason we have been asking for an immigration policy is so that we can decide exactly who is welcome and who is not.

Yes, we have a problem with fundamentalist Islamic movements. Can you name any country that does not? &nbsp;When our investigation agencies warn that some of the people we are taking in, may have a terrorist background &ndash; yes, we have a problem.

We say: please don&rsquo;t keep them here, please send them back to where they came from. On the other hand, we are also a party pushing for, not resisting an immigration policy ! We want well-educated people, smart brains, knowledgeable, well-educated people from all over the world, who will easily integrate in Germany.

This has already been happening since decades and people from many countries moved here and are living happily. Our only problem is that we are getting huge numbers -1 million from Africa alone - with ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds which do not fit into our country, especially when they have fundamentalist Islamist influences of the kind of the IS&nbsp;in Syria and Iraq.

We don&rsquo;t want to accept such people. We want to live peacefully and happily in this country. We don&rsquo;t want police all over the place, like in London, Berlin, Madrid or elsewhere.

We don&rsquo;t want to live in constant fear that today may be our last day. But welcoming people who are well-educated and well-trained from India? They are very welcome here and pose no problem for the Alternative For Germany at all.

AFD?s senior board member and Chief of Lower Saxony, Armin-Paul Hampel tells WION that it is Muslims from countries with Islamist terrorist presence - and not Indians ? whom his party does not welcome in Germany.

The Alternative For Germany (AFD) has taken a strident stance against German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s admission of millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Islamic states in North Africa. The party which is being termed “extreme right wing” is slated to change Germany’s post-WWII history dramatically on Sunday, September 24 when it is predicted to win almost 10% of the vote in general elections and enter Germany’s Bundestag or parliament for the first time. In an exclusive chat just two days before Germany’s general election, AFD’s senior board member and Chief of Lower Saxony, Armin-Paul Hampel tells WION’s Sr Foreign Editor Padma Rao Sundarji that it is Muslims from countries with Islamist terrorist presence -and not Indians – whom his party does not welcome in Germany. Q: Armin-Paul Hampel, you are an award-winning television journalist ("IN GANDHI’S FOOTSTEPS”) who have been based here in India and elsewhere and have stayed loyal to your old Indian friends. Your kids were born in India, at one point they spoke Hindi but no German. Your family had integrated well here. In 2013, you co-founded Alternative For Germany (AFD) a party that has been termed extreme rightwing by the international and German media. AFD wants no foreigners in Germany. Does that include Indians? A: Not at all ! I lived in India for 11 years, why should I change my opinion about India? In fact, even the opinion of AFD is not as you describe. It’s a different story. We have a problem with about 1 million people from northern Africa who migrated to Germany in 2015. In keeping with the German constitution, we have to offer shelter people who are political refugees and my party agrees that such people are welcome to come to our country. But in reality, only 15-20% of those 1 million people were political refugees. The rest had economic reasons for coming here. To that, my party says it is too much, Germany cannot afford it, we cannot finance them. And that we must find better and more solutions for people who are trying to migrate from Arab and Muslim countries into Germany. India is not affected at all. Q: All German governments have, in recent years, campaigned aggressively in India to attract Indian students and professionals to come to Germany. There is reportedly a huge shortfall of IT talent there. Your party is slated to change 70 years of German history by being the first rightwing party to enter the Bundestag on Sunday. Will AFD support the continuation of this canvassing for Indian talent? A: Absolutely – that is the point. Look, since 2013 - the year we founded our party, we have been asking for a migration law in Germany. Once, we had a blue card, similar to the American green card. AFD has been saying Germany wants people who are well-trained to come and take up jobs here. We have a need for well-trained and well-educated people and there are a lot in India. But because we are a German-speaking country, people from India are unfortunately not so willing to come here. But we will still continue to invite them if they have good qualifications, experts in the one or another important subject, good engineers or in the IT branch. That’s not the problem. The problem is that we have a different situation in Arab countries like Syria, Iraq and others where there is war, some other crisis or unstable governments. We are asking for better support from the United Nations, which, unbelievably reduced its budget in 2015. We want the UN to increase its budget, send experts to Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, and armed with a robust mandate of the UN, establish safe havens over there with the help of NATO and local troops to protect such refugees. But spending billions of Euros to get people from an 8000-mile distance – from the Bosphorus, from Arab countries – into Germany – is just wrong. These people have different cultures, different ethnic backgrounds, a different religion. Many are not well-educated, some never went to school at all. All this makes it difficult for them to adapt to Germany. We do want to help. But we at AFD say that we should do that by investing the money right there, on the spot – for good medicare, safe housing, good education, etc. That would be far more effective than transporting 1 million people across thousands of miles to Germany. Q: You are set to make history by entering parliament on Sunday. This is an era of coalitions. And that means compromise. Which of your beliefs, goals will AFD be willing to compromise or tweak if you are part of one such coalition? A: We want to learn parliamentarianism to start with and we’ll do that by sitting in the opposition for a start. We are not thinking of joining any coalitions at this time. Instead, we want to prepare ourselves to be able to take on greater responsibility in 2021, when the next general elections will be due. Under normal circumstances, it is hardly possible for a party that was founded only four years ago to cross the 5% vote share hurdle to enter parliament. But we achieved 4.8 percent in 2013 itself, barely a few months after we established AFD. This means that times are changing in Germany. Maybe a lot of people are not voting for the AFD, but are really voting for an alternative per se. Be it the CDU, SPD, FDP, Greens or Left, most Germans have lost their faith in the established parties. Those parties represent an Old Boys Club today. They are simply not capable of solving even today’s problems, let alone those of tomorrow. Q: You may say all these things. But you cannot deny that you are a right-wing party with startling views… A: Our political opponents always try to push us into that “right wing”” corner. May I tell you that we have many members who were once with the other parties? Be it CDU or SPD, be it the FDP or Greens. Nobody can say these people all suddenly turned hardcore right wing. Actually, we at AFD are neither left nor right. We are in the centre, we are trying to establish a party which is able to balance facts, access accurate figures, think about them and then decide. This ideology of "Left" and "Right" that was created in the 20th century has been terrible not only for Germany but also Europe and must be abandoned. We want neither Left nor Right but normal human understanding and the human brain to decide matters – that’s our way. The Old Boys Club of the established parties realise that that there is a new power emerging. That’s why they have been trying hard to keep us out. It’s like anywhere in the world. They will try again next Sunday. And they will fail. Rest assured we will be in the Bundestag with not merely 5%, but more than 10%. Q: If you are neither Left nor Right, how come the AFD attracts so many skinheads and extreme right-wing supporters? A: One has to admit that World War II and Nazism in Germany is very much still a topic. But many people reduce our entire history to those 12 terrible years. Germany is actually 1200 years old and Deutschland is a German empire. Yes, the Nazi past was part of our history, a horrible part. But we have been in existence for much longer. Certain Germans have a problem accepting this fact. Since 1945, Germany has changed so much. We have taken responsibility in all fields, we have accepted our lot due to our history. It is the same in India. When you reflect upon your history, you feel self-confident and proud of your nation. So why should we Germans not be proud about ours, when we have given the world so much? Science, music, literature, architecture? We say - let’s be proud of those aspects. We don’t have to talk only about 12 dark years all the time, there are 1200 others we can live happily with and be proud of. Maybe some Germans have a problem with that – we don’t. Q: Opinon polls can’t predict whether the CDU will form a coalition with the FDP or others. But it will be a coalition, that’s almost certain. Which constellation would be most preferable to the AFD? A: I think all established parties will lose in terms of percentage. People have lost their faith in them. At this moment, tax rates in Germany are the highest in the world. There are a number of problems besetting crucial fields like defence, science, infrastructure, etc. No proper decisions are being taken. Therefore, it really doesn’t matter who will choose to co-habit with whom in a coalition. It’s one big Old Boys Club and they all stick together anyway. And because they want to cling to power, they don’t have the will, nor the tools, nor the instruments, nor the will to change policies and forge a better future for our country. It’s just the Old Boys Club – and none of them matter. We want to be the new club in Germany. Q: Please summarize one last time: whom is the AFD against? All foreigners? Only those with an Islamic background? Or foreigners who don’t adapt to Germany? After all, there are many well-integrated Germans of Turkish origin who are perfectly integrated in Germany…. A: First of all, we have people from all over the world in our country. The reason we have been asking for an immigration policy is so that we can decide exactly who is welcome and who is not. Yes, we have a problem with fundamentalist Islamic movements. Can you name any country that does not? When our investigation agencies warn that some of the people we are taking in, may have a terrorist background – yes, we have a problem. We say: please don’t keep them here, please send them back to where they came from. On the other hand, we are also a party pushing for, not resisting an immigration policy ! We want well-educated people, smart brains, knowledgeable, well-educated people from all over the world, who will easily integrate in Germany. This has already been happening since decades and people from many countries moved here and are living happily. Our only problem is that we are getting huge numbers -1 million from Africa alone - with ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds which do not fit into our country, especially when they have fundamentalist Islamist influences of the kind of the IS in Syria and Iraq. We don’t want to accept such people. We want to live peacefully and happily in this country. We don’t want police all over the place, like in London, Berlin, Madrid or elsewhere. We don’t want to live in constant fear that today may be our last day. But welcoming people who are well-educated and well-trained from India? They are very welcome here and pose no problem for the Alternative For Germany at all.

German Election Special: Right wing AFD leader speaks exclusively to WION

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, about to return from holiday, has seen her popularity fall by 10 points just six weeks before an election in which she hopes to win a fourth term.

An Infratest dimap poll published late on Thursday showed that 59 per cent of voters think Merkel is doing a good job, down 10 points from the previous month. She trailed her finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who was down 1 point at 64 per cent.

However, Merkel has little to fear as her Social Democrat (SPD) rival Martin Schulz hit a new low of 33 per cent, down four points from last month.

The SPD has accused Merkel of stifling debate by failing to take a stand on issues and leaving much to her ministers.

Last week, she stayed on holiday rather than attend a summit of ministers and carmaker bosses aimed at mending the auto industry&#39;s tattered reputation after an emissions scandal.

They agreed to change engine software on 5.3 million diesel cars to cut pollution and avert diesel bans.

Two-thirds of Germans think politicians have a too lenient approach towards the sector, the poll showed.

&quot;Merkel is rightly accused of staying out of the emotional debates in the election campaign,&quot; wrote a commentator in Bild daily, also mentioning issues like the deportation of dangerous migrants, security and asylum fraud.

&quot;People want clear statements,&quot; it said.

An attack last month by a 26-year old migrant in Hamburg which left six people hurt shook Germans. The man, born in the United Arab Emirates, was supposed to leave the country but did not have the right identity papers.

Despite all this, Merkel&#39;s conservatives, who currently share power with the SPD in a &quot;grand coalition&quot;, look on track to win the Sept. 24 vote. The main question for most experts is whether she will repeat her coalition with the SPD or seek another partner, possibly the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).

Some 49 per cent of those asked said they wanted the next government to be led by Merkel&#39;s conservative bloc, comprising her own Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU).

The poll put Merkel&#39;s conservatives down 1 point at 39 per cent and the SPD up one but, on 24 per cent, still way behind.

The SPD has accused Merkel of stifling debate by failing to take a stand on issues and leaving much to her ministers

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, about to return from holiday, has seen her popularity fall by 10 points just six weeks before an election in which she hopes to win a fourth term. An Infratest dimap poll published late on Thursday showed that 59 per cent of voters think Merkel is doing a good job, down 10 points from the previous month. She trailed her finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who was down 1 point at 64 per cent. However, Merkel has little to fear as her Social Democrat (SPD) rival Martin Schulz hit a new low of 33 per cent, down four points from last month. The SPD has accused Merkel of stifling debate by failing to take a stand on issues and leaving much to her ministers. Last week, she stayed on holiday rather than attend a summit of ministers and carmaker bosses aimed at mending the auto industry's tattered reputation after an emissions scandal. They agreed to change engine software on 5.3 million diesel cars to cut pollution and avert diesel bans. Two-thirds of Germans think politicians have a too lenient approach towards the sector, the poll showed. "Merkel is rightly accused of staying out of the emotional debates in the election campaign," wrote a commentator in Bild daily, also mentioning issues like the deportation of dangerous migrants, security and asylum fraud. "People want clear statements," it said. An attack last month by a 26-year old migrant in Hamburg which left six people hurt shook Germans. The man, born in the United Arab Emirates, was supposed to leave the country but did not have the right identity papers. Despite all this, Merkel's conservatives, who currently share power with the SPD in a "grand coalition", look on track to win the Sept. 24 vote. The main question for most experts is whether she will repeat her coalition with the SPD or seek another partner, possibly the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP). Some 49 per cent of those asked said they wanted the next government to be led by Merkel's conservative bloc, comprising her own Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU). The poll put Merkel's conservatives down 1 point at 39 per cent and the SPD up one but, on 24 per cent, still way behind.

Merkel support slides six weeks before election, SPD rival even weaker

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held wide-ranging talks with Germany&#39;s Chancellor Angela Merkel in a move to further strengthen the bilateral partnership between the two countries.

Both the leaders held the fourth&nbsp;India-Germany Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) to set a roadmap for the bilateral strategic ties, PTI said.

&quot;We are looking at outcome oriented momentum in India- Germany ties and a quantum jump specially in economic ties. We had wide ranging discussions today. India-Germany partnership will help our nations and also help the world,&quot; he said.

Merkel and Modi also discussed a number of issues like&nbsp;trade, skill development, cyber security and terrorism.

Modi said that Germany will always find India as powerful, prepared and a capable partner.

&quot;Pace of development of our relations is fast, direction positive and destination clear. Germany will always find India as powerful, prepared and capable partner,&quot; Modi said at a joint press interaction after holding talks with Merkel, PTI reported.

The German Chancellor said that Berlin wants to develop ties with New Delhi but not at the cost of its trans-Atlantic relationship, Reuters reported.

&quot;That&#39;s of huge importance and in no way directed against any other relationships and certainly not against the trans-Atlantic ties, which have historically been very important for us and will remain so in future.&quot;

On Monday, Merkel underlined her doubts about the reliability of the United States as an ally but said she was a &quot;convinced trans-Atlanticist&quot;, fine-tuning her message after surprising Washington with her frankness a day earlier.

(WION with inputs from PTI and Reuters)

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Merkel said she could develop ties with India and keep up its relationship with the US

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held wide-ranging talks with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in a move to further strengthen the bilateral partnership between the two countries. Both the leaders held the fourth India-Germany Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) to set a roadmap for the bilateral strategic ties, PTI said. "We are looking at outcome oriented momentum in India- Germany ties and a quantum jump specially in economic ties. We had wide ranging discussions today. India-Germany partnership will help our nations and also help the world," he said. Merkel and Modi also discussed a number of issues like trade, skill development, cyber security and terrorism. Modi said that Germany will always find India as powerful, prepared and a capable partner. "Pace of development of our relations is fast, direction positive and destination clear. Germany will always find India as powerful, prepared and capable partner," Modi said at a joint press interaction after holding talks with Merkel, PTI reported. The German Chancellor said that Berlin wants to develop ties with New Delhi but not at the cost of its trans-Atlantic relationship, Reuters reported. "That's of huge importance and in no way directed against any other relationships and certainly not against the trans-Atlantic ties, which have historically been very important for us and will remain so in future." On Monday, Merkel underlined her doubts about the reliability of the United States as an ally but said she was a "convinced trans-Atlanticist", fine-tuning her message after surprising Washington with her frankness a day earlier. (WION with inputs from PTI and Reuters)

Modi calls Berlin a 'reliable partner' after meeting Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Vladimir Putin insisted Tuesday that there was no alternative to a stalled Ukraine peace plan as they struggled to mask deep rifts during a first meeting in Russia since 2015.

Merkel pushed Putin at a frosty encounter to ensure a ceasefire in war-torn east Ukraine, but the Russian leader laid the blame on Kiev for a European-brokered peace deal hitting a dead end.&nbsp;

The rare visit also saw the German chancellor confront Putin over rights issues in Russia, including the alleged persecution of gay men in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya.&nbsp;

&quot;I think we have differences but international politics means to always keep looking for dialogue,&quot; Merkel said at a press conference in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.&nbsp;

The meeting was meant to focus on preparations for the G20 summit in Hamburg in July, and no major breakthroughs were expected on mending the deep divisions caused by the conflict in Ukraine.&nbsp;

The German leader has strongly backed EU sanctions on Russia for seizing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and for supporting a pro-Kremlin separatist insurgency in the east of the country.

Merkel said she hoped some of the sanctions could be lifted if a flatlining peace plan brokered by her and French President Francois Hollande in 2015 was fulfilled.

And both leaders admitted there was no choice but to stick to the process despite its running into a brick wall amid recriminations from all sides.&nbsp;

&quot;We cannot think about any alternative and we should not have to think of it,&quot; Putin said at a press conference.&nbsp;

&quot;It is impossible to create new plans without achieving elementary results for what we outlined in previous years.&quot;

Gay rights

Merkel last visited Russia in May 2015 when she met Putin in Moscow, and the two leaders have scaled back contacts as the Ukraine crisis has driven ties to a post-Cold War low.&nbsp;

Putin talked up economic ties between the two countries, insisting that &quot;our cooperation makes a significant contribution to stabilising the world economy.&quot;

But it was clear that despite pledges to talk there remain deep gulfs between the German leader -- seen as a major bulwark of the Western liberal order -- and the Kremlin strongman, who many accuse of trying to undermine it.&nbsp;

At the press conference Merkel said she raised recent high-profile accusations of rights abuses in Russia, including allegations the authorities in Chechnya were rounding up gay men.&nbsp;

&quot;We received very negative reports about how homosexuals are treated in Chechnya,&quot; Merkel said. &quot;I asked President Putin to use his influence to guarantee the rights of minorities.&quot;

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin-loyalist and strongman leader of Chechnya, has fiercely denied claims of a crackdown in the socially conservative region, and after a delay Russian investigators said they are probing the allegations.&nbsp;

Putin was also forced to deny that Russia was planning to meddle in German elections that Merkel is competing in later in the year after claims that Moscow interfered with the US presidential vote.&nbsp;

&quot;We never interfered in the political life or the political processes of any other country,&quot; Putin said.&nbsp;

Trump talk, Erdogan meeting

The meeting with Merkel comes ahead of a busy diplomatic push for Putin.

After meeting Merkel, he was expected later Tuesday to hold his third phone call with US President Donald Trump.

The two leaders are looking to make headway on ties in the face of deep rifts over the conflict in Syria and after claims of Russian hacking during the US elections.&nbsp;

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also due to meet Putin in Sochi on Wednesday.

Putin and Erdogan have inched closer together on Syria as Erdogan&#39;s ties with Europe have deteriorated in recent months.

(AFP)

The rare visit saw the German chancellor confront Putin over the alleged persecution of gay men in Chechnya

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Vladimir Putin insisted Tuesday that there was no alternative to a stalled Ukraine peace plan as they struggled to mask deep rifts during a first meeting in Russia since 2015. Merkel pushed Putin at a frosty encounter to ensure a ceasefire in war-torn east Ukraine, but the Russian leader laid the blame on Kiev for a European-brokered peace deal hitting a dead end. The rare visit also saw the German chancellor confront Putin over rights issues in Russia, including the alleged persecution of gay men in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya. "I think we have differences but international politics means to always keep looking for dialogue," Merkel said at a press conference in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. The meeting was meant to focus on preparations for the G20 summit in Hamburg in July, and no major breakthroughs were expected on mending the deep divisions caused by the conflict in Ukraine. The German leader has strongly backed EU sanctions on Russia for seizing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and for supporting a pro-Kremlin separatist insurgency in the east of the country. Merkel said she hoped some of the sanctions could be lifted if a flatlining peace plan brokered by her and French President Francois Hollande in 2015 was fulfilled. And both leaders admitted there was no choice but to stick to the process despite its running into a brick wall amid recriminations from all sides. "We cannot think about any alternative and we should not have to think of it," Putin said at a press conference. "It is impossible to create new plans without achieving elementary results for what we outlined in previous years." Gay rights Merkel last visited Russia in May 2015 when she met Putin in Moscow, and the two leaders have scaled back contacts as the Ukraine crisis has driven ties to a post-Cold War low. Putin talked up economic ties between the two countries, insisting that "our cooperation makes a significant contribution to stabilising the world economy." But it was clear that despite pledges to talk there remain deep gulfs between the German leader -- seen as a major bulwark of the Western liberal order -- and the Kremlin strongman, who many accuse of trying to undermine it. At the press conference Merkel said she raised recent high-profile accusations of rights abuses in Russia, including allegations the authorities in Chechnya were rounding up gay men. "We received very negative reports about how homosexuals are treated in Chechnya," Merkel said. "I asked President Putin to use his influence to guarantee the rights of minorities." Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin-loyalist and strongman leader of Chechnya, has fiercely denied claims of a crackdown in the socially conservative region, and after a delay Russian investigators said they are probing the allegations. Putin was also forced to deny that Russia was planning to meddle in German elections that Merkel is competing in later in the year after claims that Moscow interfered with the US presidential vote. "We never interfered in the political life or the political processes of any other country," Putin said. Trump talk, Erdogan meeting The meeting with Merkel comes ahead of a busy diplomatic push for Putin. After meeting Merkel, he was expected later Tuesday to hold his third phone call with US President Donald Trump. The two leaders are looking to make headway on ties in the face of deep rifts over the conflict in Syria and after claims of Russian hacking during the US elections. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also due to meet Putin in Sochi on Wednesday. Putin and Erdogan have inched closer together on Syria as Erdogan's ties with Europe have deteriorated in recent months. (AFP)

Merkel pushes Putin on Ukraine, gay rights

For all its economic success, Germany has a growing problem with inequality and poverty, and yet Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be deflecting the blame so far as the battlelines are drawn for elections in September.

Renowned for its highly-skilled workforce, Germany has in fact a greater proportion of working poor - people who have a job but are struggling with poverty - than Britain, France and even some less wealthy EU states such as Hungary or Cyprus.

Nowhere is the widening gap between rich and poor more evident than in the Ruhr region, an urban sprawl of five million people that was once the centre of Germany&#39;s heavy industry.

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A highway that ploughs through the western region is nicknamed the &quot;social equator&quot;, separating suburbs hit by the decline of coal mining and steelmaking from those that have benefited from the new industries that now power German growth.

To the north, soup kitchens and food banks tend to the unemployed, homeless and refugees as well as the working poor. To the south, highly qualified workers drive luxury cars to glass buildings housing high-tech and pharmaceutical companies.

Sensing an opportunity to beat the conservative chancellor on Sept. 24, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are trying to mobilise disgruntled Germans.

&quot;Many people fear that their pension won&#39;t be enough, the rent can&#39;t be paid, or that their children will be permanently on limited job contracts,&quot; SPD deputy chairman Ralf Stegner told Reuters.

But recapturing these voters, many of them once SPD loyalists, is proving tough going.

North Rhine-Westphalia, home to the divided Ruhr region and where poverty has risen more than in any of Germany&#39;s 16 other states, should be fertile ground for the message. Likewise, pensioner Edith Rena, 75, would seem an obvious target voter.

&quot;I worked for 40 years and raised two children alone,&quot; Rena said, resting on her trolley packed with fruit and vegetables bought at a discount at a food bank in Dortmund, the Ruhr&#39;s largest city. &quot;I come here because it&#39;s cheap so I can save money to buy presents for my grandchildren.&quot;

Rena has received welfare support since retiring 10 years ago from a department store sales job as her 620 euro ($675) monthly state pension doesn&#39;t cover her living expenses and rent.

Along with the working poor, the number of pensioners seeking welfare has almost doubled over the past decade, and the SPD are seizing on this to counter the conservatives&#39; insistence that Germans have never had it so good.

And yet Merkel&#39;s message that economic growth is steady, unemployment is at a record low and falling, and state finances are sound appears to be resonating more with voters like Rena.

She vents her frustration not at the chancellor, who has led Germany for more than 11 years, but at the SPD which enacted labour market and welfare reforms in the mid-2000s, badly hurting its own traditional working class supporters.

&quot;Of course I&#39;m going to vote for Merkel,&quot; she told Reuters. &quot;We&#39;ve done well under her. Why would I vote for a party that abandoned the poor?&quot;

ROBIN HOOD

The German Institute for Economic Research has found that while the economy grew 22 percent in real terms in 1991-2014, the poorest 10 percent of households saw their real disposable income shrink by 8 percent. By contrast, income for the richest 10 percent rose about 27 percent.

Despite its image as a nation of well-paid workers making world class goods like Mercedes cars or Siemens kitchen equipment, Germany does not show up well in international comparisons.

The proportion of employed Germans threatened by poverty, which means their disposable income is less than 60 percent of the median national wage, was slightly above the European Union average in 2015, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat.

The figure was 9.7 percent of the workforce compared with only 8.2 percent for Britain, which since the 1980s has embraced free-market reforms more vigorously than Germany. The rate was 7.5 percent in France, 9.3 in Hungary and 9.1 in Cyprus.

After naming Martin Schulz as its leader in January, the SPD surged in opinion polls to catch up with Merkel&#39;s conservatives, propelled by promises to make German society more equal. Media nicknamed him &quot;Robin Hood&quot;, after the legendary English outlaw who robbed the rich and gave to the poor.

However, while the election is set to be tightly contested, the conservatives have reopened a lead in recent polls with about 35 percent support, around five points ahead of the SPD, now the junior partner in Merkel&#39;s coalition.

Schulz, a former European Parliament president, is promising to undo some of the &quot;Agenda 2010&quot; reforms enacted by his own party under then chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over a decade ago.

These helped to end a long period of stagnation and high unemployment by making the economy more competitive, turning Germany from the &quot;sick man of Europe&quot; into a powerhouse.

But Agenda 2010 also increased the number of low-paid and part-time workers who now face a higher risk of falling into poverty during their active years or after retirement.

The SPD paid a heavy political price, losing a significant section of its working class support base and three successive elections to the conservatives starting in 2005. So it is Merkel who reaped the political benefit of the reforms, leaving the SPD to regain the trust now of alienated Germans.

&quot;Through the theme of social justice, the SPD is trying to remobilise its lost support base, to bring non-voters back to the ballot box,&quot; said Prof. Robert Vehrkamp of the Bertelsmann Foundation, a non-profit think tank. This could be decisive for the party&#39;s chances of victory, he added.

Schulz wants to quadruple to a maximum of 48 months the period that people who become redundant can claim unemployment benefits if they attend vocational training, and to curb employers&#39; right to offer workers limited contracts.

His party has also pledged to increase inheritance and wealth taxes and use the funds to help families with nursery and after-school care costs, as well as raising pensions.

Not everyone is receptive. &quot;Schulz talks a lot. But I would like to see him find me a job suitable for my age and health,&quot; said Manfred Mueller, a 56-year-old former construction worker who has been unemployed for 15 years after injuring his back.

&quot;Agenda 2010 was a catastrophe,&quot; said Mueller, a former SPD voter who has backed the hard-left Linke party since 2005. He believes Schulz will face resistance from employers warning of job cuts if he tries to make the labour market more rigid.

&quot;The only job I could do is sit in an office,&quot; said Mueller, dunking a bread roll in his soup bowl at the Kana Soup Kitchen in Dortmund. &quot;But I am not sure even this would work. I&#39;m a trained builder.&quot;

POPULIST THREAT

Merkel&#39;s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian allies say Schulz&#39;s plans would harm competitiveness and reverse falling unemployment which, at 5.8 percent, is at its lowest since German reunification in 1990. &quot;Since 2005 we have managed to halve unemployment. And we want to bring more people into the labour market,&quot; CDU Secretary General Peter Tauber told Reuters. &quot;What Schulz is proposing threatens this success.&quot;

The conservatives are promising tax cuts of 15 billion euros a year that would mainly benefit middle-income households.

Despite the discontent, Germans are not rejecting their long-established parties, unlike in France. Nevertheless, the conservatives and SPD must contend with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). In regional elections last year, both lost support to the AfD which attracted protest voters, many of them blue-collar workers and the unemployed.

Beset by infighting, the AfD&#39;s support has fallen by a third since the start of the year to 10 percent but it is still expected to enter parliament for the first time, possibly as the third-largest party ahead of the Linke, Greens and revived liberal Free Democrats.

That would raise the number of groups in parliament to six from four at the moment, complicating the task of coalition building for whoever wins in September.

(Reuters)

Germany has a greater proportion of working poor than Britain, France & even less wealthy EU states like Hungary, Cyprus

For all its economic success, Germany has a growing problem with inequality and poverty, and yet Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be deflecting the blame so far as the battlelines are drawn for elections in September. Renowned for its highly-skilled workforce, Germany has in fact a greater proportion of working poor - people who have a job but are struggling with poverty - than Britain, France and even some less wealthy EU states such as Hungary or Cyprus. Nowhere is the widening gap between rich and poor more evident than in the Ruhr region, an urban sprawl of five million people that was once the centre of Germany's heavy industry. Nowhere is the widening gap between rich and poor more evident than in the Ruhr region, an urban sprawl of five million people that was once the centre of Germany's heavy industry × A highway that ploughs through the western region is nicknamed the "social equator", separating suburbs hit by the decline of coal mining and steelmaking from those that have benefited from the new industries that now power German growth. To the north, soup kitchens and food banks tend to the unemployed, homeless and refugees as well as the working poor. To the south, highly qualified workers drive luxury cars to glass buildings housing high-tech and pharmaceutical companies. Sensing an opportunity to beat the conservative chancellor on Sept. 24, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are trying to mobilise disgruntled Germans. "Many people fear that their pension won't be enough, the rent can't be paid, or that their children will be permanently on limited job contracts," SPD deputy chairman Ralf Stegner told Reuters. But recapturing these voters, many of them once SPD loyalists, is proving tough going. North Rhine-Westphalia, home to the divided Ruhr region and where poverty has risen more than in any of Germany's 16 other states, should be fertile ground for the message. Likewise, pensioner Edith Rena, 75, would seem an obvious target voter. "I worked for 40 years and raised two children alone," Rena said, resting on her trolley packed with fruit and vegetables bought at a discount at a food bank in Dortmund, the Ruhr's largest city. "I come here because it's cheap so I can save money to buy presents for my grandchildren." Rena has received welfare support since retiring 10 years ago from a department store sales job as her 620 euro ($675) monthly state pension doesn't cover her living expenses and rent. Along with the working poor, the number of pensioners seeking welfare has almost doubled over the past decade, and the SPD are seizing on this to counter the conservatives' insistence that Germans have never had it so good. And yet Merkel's message that economic growth is steady, unemployment is at a record low and falling, and state finances are sound appears to be resonating more with voters like Rena. She vents her frustration not at the chancellor, who has led Germany for more than 11 years, but at the SPD which enacted labour market and welfare reforms in the mid-2000s, badly hurting its own traditional working class supporters. "Of course I'm going to vote for Merkel," she told Reuters. "We've done well under her. Why would I vote for a party that abandoned the poor?" ROBIN HOOD The German Institute for Economic Research has found that while the economy grew 22 percent in real terms in 1991-2014, the poorest 10 percent of households saw their real disposable income shrink by 8 percent. By contrast, income for the richest 10 percent rose about 27 percent. Despite its image as a nation of well-paid workers making world class goods like Mercedes cars or Siemens kitchen equipment, Germany does not show up well in international comparisons. The proportion of employed Germans threatened by poverty, which means their disposable income is less than 60 percent of the median national wage, was slightly above the European Union average in 2015, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat. The figure was 9.7 percent of the workforce compared with only 8.2 percent for Britain, which since the 1980s has embraced free-market reforms more vigorously than Germany. The rate was 7.5 percent in France, 9.3 in Hungary and 9.1 in Cyprus. After naming Martin Schulz as its leader in January, the SPD surged in opinion polls to catch up with Merkel's conservatives, propelled by promises to make German society more equal. Media nicknamed him "Robin Hood", after the legendary English outlaw who robbed the rich and gave to the poor. However, while the election is set to be tightly contested, the conservatives have reopened a lead in recent polls with about 35 percent support, around five points ahead of the SPD, now the junior partner in Merkel's coalition. Schulz, a former European Parliament president, is promising to undo some of the "Agenda 2010" reforms enacted by his own party under then chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over a decade ago. These helped to end a long period of stagnation and high unemployment by making the economy more competitive, turning Germany from the "sick man of Europe" into a powerhouse. But Agenda 2010 also increased the number of low-paid and part-time workers who now face a higher risk of falling into poverty during their active years or after retirement. The SPD paid a heavy political price, losing a significant section of its working class support base and three successive elections to the conservatives starting in 2005. So it is Merkel who reaped the political benefit of the reforms, leaving the SPD to regain the trust now of alienated Germans. "Through the theme of social justice, the SPD is trying to remobilise its lost support base, to bring non-voters back to the ballot box," said Prof. Robert Vehrkamp of the Bertelsmann Foundation, a non-profit think tank. This could be decisive for the party's chances of victory, he added. Schulz wants to quadruple to a maximum of 48 months the period that people who become redundant can claim unemployment benefits if they attend vocational training, and to curb employers' right to offer workers limited contracts. His party has also pledged to increase inheritance and wealth taxes and use the funds to help families with nursery and after-school care costs, as well as raising pensions. Not everyone is receptive. "Schulz talks a lot. But I would like to see him find me a job suitable for my age and health," said Manfred Mueller, a 56-year-old former construction worker who has been unemployed for 15 years after injuring his back. "Agenda 2010 was a catastrophe," said Mueller, a former SPD voter who has backed the hard-left Linke party since 2005. He believes Schulz will face resistance from employers warning of job cuts if he tries to make the labour market more rigid. "The only job I could do is sit in an office," said Mueller, dunking a bread roll in his soup bowl at the Kana Soup Kitchen in Dortmund. "But I am not sure even this would work. I'm a trained builder." POPULIST THREAT Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian allies say Schulz's plans would harm competitiveness and reverse falling unemployment which, at 5.8 percent, is at its lowest since German reunification in 1990. "Since 2005 we have managed to halve unemployment. And we want to bring more people into the labour market," CDU Secretary General Peter Tauber told Reuters. "What Schulz is proposing threatens this success." The conservatives are promising tax cuts of 15 billion euros a year that would mainly benefit middle-income households. Despite the discontent, Germans are not rejecting their long-established parties, unlike in France. Nevertheless, the conservatives and SPD must contend with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). In regional elections last year, both lost support to the AfD which attracted protest voters, many of them blue-collar workers and the unemployed. Beset by infighting, the AfD's support has fallen by a third since the start of the year to 10 percent but it is still expected to enter parliament for the first time, possibly as the third-largest party ahead of the Linke, Greens and revived liberal Free Democrats. That would raise the number of groups in parliament to six from four at the moment, complicating the task of coalition building for whoever wins in September. (Reuters)

Germany's poor hold key to election as inequality grows

Germany on Monday dismissed as unacceptable an accusation by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that Chancellor Angela Merkel is &quot;applying Nazi methods&quot; against Turks and Turkish officials in Germany.

&quot;Nazi comparisons are unacceptable in any form,&quot; a German government spokeswoman said, adding that it was up to Turkey to tone down its rhetoric and avert damage to relations between the two countries.

Germany&#39;s Nazi government during World War II--the&nbsp;perpetrators of the Holocaust in which&nbsp;millions of Jews, Roma, differently-abled and more were murdered--is a legacy&nbsp;contemporary Germany&nbsp;still wrestles with&nbsp;decades later.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Erdogan has previously said that&nbsp;both the German and Dutch governments&nbsp;egaged in &quot;Nazi practices&quot; after each country prevented Turkish ministers from campaigning at events for expatriate&nbsp;voters ahead of an April referendum in Turkey that would expand Erdogan&#39;s power.

Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul on Sunday: &quot;Merkel, now you&#39;re applying Nazi methods. Against my brothers who live in Germany, and against my ministers and lawmakers who visit there. Would this suit the ethics of politics? Your mission is not to support terrorist organisations, but to extradite them.&quot;

Germany, and Berlin in particular, has&nbsp;had a large Turkish population for decades. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/07/18/home-to-3-million-turkish-immigrants-germany-fears-rising-tensions/?utm_term=.46fcaf49836d" target="_blank">Estimates </a>peg Germany&#39;s Turkish immigrant population at roughly three million. &nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Berlin refused to let Turkish ministers campaign in Germany to Turkish ex pats before an April referendum that would expand Erdogan's power

Germany on Monday dismissed as unacceptable an accusation by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that Chancellor Angela Merkel is "applying Nazi methods" against Turks and Turkish officials in Germany. "Nazi comparisons are unacceptable in any form," a German government spokeswoman said, adding that it was up to Turkey to tone down its rhetoric and avert damage to relations between the two countries. Germany's Nazi government during World War II--the perpetrators of the Holocaust in which millions of Jews, Roma, differently-abled and more were murdered--is a legacy contemporary Germany still wrestles with decades later. Erdogan has previously said that both the German and Dutch governments egaged in "Nazi practices" after each country prevented Turkish ministers from campaigning at events for expatriate voters ahead of an April referendum in Turkey that would expand Erdogan's power. Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul on Sunday: "Merkel, now you're applying Nazi methods. Against my brothers who live in Germany, and against my ministers and lawmakers who visit there. Would this suit the ethics of politics? Your mission is not to support terrorist organisations, but to extradite them." Germany, and Berlin in particular, has had a large Turkish population for decades. Estimates peg Germany's Turkish immigrant population at roughly three million. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Germany says Erdogan's Nazi comparisons are unacceptable

Angela Merkel told top members of her party on Sunday that she wants to run for a fourth term as German chancellor in next year&#39;s election, senior party sources told Reuters, after months of speculation about one of the world&#39;s most powerful women.

Despite a voter backlash over her open-door migrant policy, the conservative is seen as a stabilising force in Europe amid uncertainty caused by Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president.

Merkel told leading figures in her Christian Democrats (CDU) party in Berlin on Sunday about her intentions, several participants said. The meeting is to prepare for a party conference in December, the last before the election.

She is due to hold a news conference at 1800 GMT.

Some 55 percent of Germans want Merkel to serve a fourth term, with 39 percent against, an Emnid poll published in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed on Sunday.

Merkel, 62, has steered Europe&#39;s biggest economy through the financial crisis and the euro zone debt crisis and has won respect internationally - U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday described her as an &quot;outstanding&quot; ally.

With Trump&#39;s victory in the United States and the rise in support for right-wing parties in Europe, some commentators see Merkel as a bastion of Western liberal values.

However, her decision last year to open Germany&#39;s borders to around 900,000 migrants, mostly from war zones in the Middle East, angered many voters at home and hit her personal ratings.

Turn back the clock

Her party has slumped in regional elections in the last year while support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has swelled.

In September, after a heavy defeat for the CDU in a Berlin state election, a humbled Merkel surprised the country by saying she wished she could turn the clock back on the migrant crisis, though she stopped short of saying her policy was a mistake.

Merkel, who grew up in Communist East Germany, is a physicist who only became involved in politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. She is seen as a talented negotiator but has also shown a ruthless streak.

A Protestant woman in a mainly Catholic and male-dominated party, at least when she became its leader in 2000, Merkel never built up a regional power base but over the years she has sidelined her main male rivals and has no obvious successor.

She still requires the backing of her Christian Social Union (CSU) allies in Bavaria, who have fiercely criticised her open-door migrant policy but, with no obvious candidate of their own, are widely expected to fall in behind her.

Polls put her conservative bloc around 10 points ahead of its nearest rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD), with whom she shares power. Many pollsters see another &#39;grand coalition&#39; as the most likely option after the September election, although the rise of the AfD makes coalition arithmetic more complicated.

By standing again, Merkel could end up matching the 16 years in office of her former mentor, Helmut Kohl. It was Merkel herself who broke with Kohl and told her party in 1999, in the midst of a funding scandal, that it should move on without him.

It is unclear whether, if she wins a fourth term, she would serve a full four years. She has said in the past that she wants to find the right time to leave politics, and not cling on too long.

(Reuters)

Merkel is due to hold a news conference at her party headquarters shortly

Angela Merkel told top members of her party on Sunday that she wants to run for a fourth term as German chancellor in next year's election, senior party sources told Reuters, after months of speculation about one of the world's most powerful women. Despite a voter backlash over her open-door migrant policy, the conservative is seen as a stabilising force in Europe amid uncertainty caused by Britain's vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president. Merkel told leading figures in her Christian Democrats (CDU) party in Berlin on Sunday about her intentions, several participants said. The meeting is to prepare for a party conference in December, the last before the election. She is due to hold a news conference at 1800 GMT. Some 55 percent of Germans want Merkel to serve a fourth term, with 39 percent against, an Emnid poll published in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed on Sunday. Merkel, 62, has steered Europe's biggest economy through the financial crisis and the euro zone debt crisis and has won respect internationally - U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday described her as an "outstanding" ally. With Trump's victory in the United States and the rise in support for right-wing parties in Europe, some commentators see Merkel as a bastion of Western liberal values. However, her decision last year to open Germany's borders to around 900,000 migrants, mostly from war zones in the Middle East, angered many voters at home and hit her personal ratings. Turn back the clock Her party has slumped in regional elections in the last year while support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has swelled. In September, after a heavy defeat for the CDU in a Berlin state election, a humbled Merkel surprised the country by saying she wished she could turn the clock back on the migrant crisis, though she stopped short of saying her policy was a mistake. Merkel, who grew up in Communist East Germany, is a physicist who only became involved in politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. She is seen as a talented negotiator but has also shown a ruthless streak. A Protestant woman in a mainly Catholic and male-dominated party, at least when she became its leader in 2000, Merkel never built up a regional power base but over the years she has sidelined her main male rivals and has no obvious successor. She still requires the backing of her Christian Social Union (CSU) allies in Bavaria, who have fiercely criticised her open-door migrant policy but, with no obvious candidate of their own, are widely expected to fall in behind her. Polls put her conservative bloc around 10 points ahead of its nearest rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD), with whom she shares power. Many pollsters see another 'grand coalition' as the most likely option after the September election, although the rise of the AfD makes coalition arithmetic more complicated. By standing again, Merkel could end up matching the 16 years in office of her former mentor, Helmut Kohl. It was Merkel herself who broke with Kohl and told her party in 1999, in the midst of a funding scandal, that it should move on without him. It is unclear whether, if she wins a fourth term, she would serve a full four years. She has said in the past that she wants to find the right time to leave politics, and not cling on too long. (Reuters)

Germany's Merkel tells party ready to run for fourth term

The defeat could weaken the German Chancellor's chances of a fourth term in next year's federal elections

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats stood third, after being defeated by the anti-immigrant and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a north-eastern state election on Sunday, according to TV exit polls. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union garnered just 19 percent percent in its worst ever score in the north-eastern state. The defeat has come for Merkel in her home district and could weaken her chances of a fourth term in next year’s federal elections. The AfD took 21.9 per cent of the vote behind the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) in their first election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern by campaigning hard against the chancellor's policies on refugees, according to a projection by ARD TV at 1815 GMT. "This isn't pretty for us," said Michael Grosse-Broemer, one of Merkel's top deputies in parliament in Berlin in a ZDF TV interview. "Those who voted for the AfD were sending a message of protest." The SPD has dominated the rural state on the Baltic coast with the CDU as junior coalition partners since 2006. It won 30.2 per cent of the vote, down from 35.6 per cent in the last election in 2011. Merkel's approval rating has gone down to a five-year low of 45 per cent, down from 67 per cent a year ago, due to increasing dissent with her open-door policies on refugees. Her decision has left her isolated in Europe, and exposed her to heavy criticism at home, including from her own conservative allies. Support for Merkel has also weakened after a string of violent attacks on civilians in July, three of which were carried out by asylum seekers. Of those, two were claimed by Islamic State. According to a report in Der Spiegel magazine, Merkel wanted to announce her intention of running for a fourth term this year but has put that on hold due to resistance from her Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. "This was a dark day for Merkel," Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University, told Reuters. "Everyone knows that she lost this election. Her district in parliament is there, she campaigned there, and refugees are her issue." "This is a slap in the face for Merkel -- not only in Berlin but also in her home state," said Frauke Petry, co-leader of the AfD. "The voters made a clear statement against Merkel's disastrous immigration policies. This put her in her place." The leader of France's far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, posted on Twitter: "What was impossible yesterday has become possible: the patriots of AfD sweep up the party of Ms Merkel. All my congratulations!” The SPD (26 seats) and the CDU (16) won enough seats to be able to continue their coalition in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with the AfD as the second-largest bloc in the 71-seat state assembly with 18 seats. The SPD, which could also form a coalition with the Left Party, said it was leaving its options open. The AfD is also gaining nationwide, a new poll showed on Sunday. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Merkel loses to anti-immigrant party in her home district: Exit polls

Dubai: Iran will press on with its missile programme &quot;with full force&quot; based on national security needs, a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying on Saturday, adding that critical comments by Germany&#39;s leader were unhelpful. 
 
Chancellor Angela Merkel told the parliament in Berlin on Thursday that missile launches by Iran earlier this year were inconsistent with a UN resolution urging it to refrain for up to eight years from missile work designed to deliver nuclear weapons. 
 
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said Merkel&#39;s remarks were &quot;not constructive&quot; and would have no bearing on the programme, according to state news agency IRNA. 
 
Reiterating Tehran&#39;s assertion that the missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons, he added: &quot;Iran will continue with full force its missile programme based on its defensive plans and national security calculations.&quot; 
 
On Friday, Iran rejected as &quot;unrealistic&quot; a report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticising its missile launches as inconsistent with its deal with world powers to curb sensitive nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief. 
 
Reuters reported on Thursday that a confidential report by Ban had found the tests to be inconsistent &quot;with the constructive spirit&quot; of the July 2015 agreement. 
 
Responding to German intelligence reports that Iran has been trying to acquire nuclear technology in Germany, Berlin said on Friday that certain forces in Iran may be trying to undermine the nuclear deal. 
 
Germany&#39;s domestic intelligence agency said in its annual report that Iranian efforts to illegally procure technology, especially in the nuclear area, had continued at a &quot;high level&quot; in 2015. 
 
(Reuters)

It also criticised Angela Merkel who had said the missile launches were inconsistent with a 2015 UN resolution

Dubai: Iran will press on with its missile programme "with full force" based on national security needs, a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying on Saturday, adding that critical comments by Germany's leader were unhelpful. Chancellor Angela Merkel told the parliament in Berlin on Thursday that missile launches by Iran earlier this year were inconsistent with a UN resolution urging it to refrain for up to eight years from missile work designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said Merkel's remarks were "not constructive" and would have no bearing on the programme, according to state news agency IRNA. Reiterating Tehran's assertion that the missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons, he added: "Iran will continue with full force its missile programme based on its defensive plans and national security calculations." On Friday, Iran rejected as "unrealistic" a report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticising its missile launches as inconsistent with its deal with world powers to curb sensitive nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief. Reuters reported on Thursday that a confidential report by Ban had found the tests to be inconsistent "with the constructive spirit" of the July 2015 agreement. Responding to German intelligence reports that Iran has been trying to acquire nuclear technology in Germany, Berlin said on Friday that certain forces in Iran may be trying to undermine the nuclear deal. Germany's domestic intelligence agency said in its annual report that Iranian efforts to illegally procure technology, especially in the nuclear area, had continued at a "high level" in 2015. (Reuters)

Iran says it will continue with missile programme 'with full force'

Turkey&#39;s president warned Germany on Tuesday that its plans to declare the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide would damage bilateral ties, raising new concerns about an EU-Turkey migrant deal championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

German lawmakers are expected to approve a symbolic resolution on Thursday that labels the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces &quot;genocide&quot;, a description that Turkey strongly rejects.

The vote had been scheduled to take place over a year ago, on the 100th anniversary of the massacre, but Merkel&#39;s allies in parliament pushed it back repeatedly out of concern that it could hurt relations with Ankara.

Now they have run out of time and may be wishing they had let the vote take place sooner.

The opposition Greens have pushed the resolution onto the agenda at an extremely awkward time for Merkel, the driving force behind an agreement between the EU and Ankara that has helped slash the number of illegal migrants entering Europe.

The deal has eased political pressure on Merkel at home. But it has been under a cloud since its strongest proponent in the Turkish government, Ahmet Davutoglu, was pushed out as prime minister this month. Since then, President Tayyip Erdogan has questioned aspects of the agreement and some of his allies have even threatened to unleash a new wave of refugees on Europe.

In comments to reporters before he left for an official visit to&nbsp;Africa, Erdogan lashed out at those who he said were trying to &quot;deceive&quot; Germany over the 1915 events, without accusing anyone in particular.

&quot;If Germany is to be deceived by this, then bilateral diplomatic, economic, trade, political, and military ties - we are both NATO countries - will be damaged,&quot; he said.

The comments came after he spoke to Merkel by telephone to express his concern about the resolution. Sources in both capitals said Erdogan had initiated the call.

&nbsp;

GERMAN HISTORY

The resolution, which is formally supported by Merkel&#39;s conservative bloc, the centre-left Social Democrats and the Greens, uses the word &quot;genocide&quot; in the headline and text.

&quot;The fate of the Armenians is exemplary in the history of mass exterminations, ethnic cleansing, deportations and yes, genocide, which marked the 20th century in such a terrible way,&quot; it reads.

The resolution also touches on the &quot;inglorious&quot; role of the German Empire, a military ally of the Ottomans, because it did nothing to stop the massacre.

Turkey argues that the there was no organised campaign to wipe out the Armenians, who are Christian, and no evidence of any such orders from the Ottoman authorities.

Cem Oezdemir, a leader of the Greens with Turkish roots, told Reuters he had experienced weeks of personal attacks from Turkish nationalists on social media and via email because of his role in championing the resolution.

&quot;It wasn&#39;t our goal to hold this vote now,&quot; Oezdemir said. &quot;But the timing is not that important. The Bundestag is doing this because this is also a part of German history. The Ottoman and German empires were essentially brothers in arms.&quot;

The vote coincides with deepening public scepticism in Germany towards Turkey and Erdogan in particular. Critics accuse Merkel of going soft on Ankara over human rights because of her desire to stem the flow of migrants.

Last month she drew fire for allowing German prosecutors to look into charges against a comedian who mocked Erdogan in a crude poem. The comedian, Jan Boehmermann, has accused Merkel of serving him &quot;up for tea to a highly strung despot&quot;.

Merkel and other top ministers are expected to vote for the resolution, although some, including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have questioned the wisdom of it in public.

Some officials fear it could stir tensions with the roughly 3 million people of Turkish origin who live in Germany.

Last year, German President Joachim Gauck condemned the killings of Armenians as &quot;genocide&quot; in a speech to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacres. Germany had previously avoided using the term in connection with the massacre.

Turkey's president warned Germany on Tuesday that its plans to declare the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide would damage bilateral ties, raising new concerns about an EU-Turkey migrant deal championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel

Turkey's president warned Germany on Tuesday that its plans to declare the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide would damage bilateral ties, raising new concerns about an EU-Turkey migrant deal championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel. German lawmakers are expected to approve a symbolic resolution on Thursday that labels the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces "genocide", a description that Turkey strongly rejects. The vote had been scheduled to take place over a year ago, on the 100th anniversary of the massacre, but Merkel's allies in parliament pushed it back repeatedly out of concern that it could hurt relations with Ankara. Now they have run out of time and may be wishing they had let the vote take place sooner. The opposition Greens have pushed the resolution onto the agenda at an extremely awkward time for Merkel, the driving force behind an agreement between the EU and Ankara that has helped slash the number of illegal migrants entering Europe. The deal has eased political pressure on Merkel at home. But it has been under a cloud since its strongest proponent in the Turkish government, Ahmet Davutoglu, was pushed out as prime minister this month. Since then, President Tayyip Erdogan has questioned aspects of the agreement and some of his allies have even threatened to unleash a new wave of refugees on Europe. In comments to reporters before he left for an official visit to Africa, Erdogan lashed out at those who he said were trying to "deceive" Germany over the 1915 events, without accusing anyone in particular. "If Germany is to be deceived by this, then bilateral diplomatic, economic, trade, political, and military ties - we are both NATO countries - will be damaged," he said. The comments came after he spoke to Merkel by telephone to express his concern about the resolution. Sources in both capitals said Erdogan had initiated the call. GERMAN HISTORY The resolution, which is formally supported by Merkel's conservative bloc, the centre-left Social Democrats and the Greens, uses the word "genocide" in the headline and text. "The fate of the Armenians is exemplary in the history of mass exterminations, ethnic cleansing, deportations and yes, genocide, which marked the 20th century in such a terrible way," it reads. The resolution also touches on the "inglorious" role of the German Empire, a military ally of the Ottomans, because it did nothing to stop the massacre. Turkey argues that the there was no organised campaign to wipe out the Armenians, who are Christian, and no evidence of any such orders from the Ottoman authorities. Cem Oezdemir, a leader of the Greens with Turkish roots, told Reuters he had experienced weeks of personal attacks from Turkish nationalists on social media and via email because of his role in championing the resolution. "It wasn't our goal to hold this vote now," Oezdemir said. "But the timing is not that important. The Bundestag is doing this because this is also a part of German history. The Ottoman and German empires were essentially brothers in arms." The vote coincides with deepening public scepticism in Germany towards Turkey and Erdogan in particular. Critics accuse Merkel of going soft on Ankara over human rights because of her desire to stem the flow of migrants. Last month she drew fire for allowing German prosecutors to look into charges against a comedian who mocked Erdogan in a crude poem. The comedian, Jan Boehmermann, has accused Merkel of serving him "up for tea to a highly strung despot". Merkel and other top ministers are expected to vote for the resolution, although some, including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have questioned the wisdom of it in public. Some officials fear it could stir tensions with the roughly 3 million people of Turkish origin who live in Germany. Last year, German President Joachim Gauck condemned the killings of Armenians as "genocide" in a speech to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacres. Germany had previously avoided using the term in connection with the massacre.

Erdogan warns Germany ahead of Armenian genocide vote

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