(AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel reached a deal Monday on migration with her rebellious interior minister, Horst Seehofer, defusing a bitter row that had threatened her government.
Both sides hammered out “a truly good compromise … after a tough struggle and difficult days,” Merkel said, adding that it involved setting up holding and processing centres for asylum seekers near German borders.
“We have reached an agreement after very intense negotiations,” Seehofer agreed, stressing that he intended to stay on in his cabinet post after earlier threatening to quit and gloating that “it’s worth fighting for your convictions.”
“We now have a clear agreement how to prevent illegal immigration across the Austrian-German border in future,” said Seehofer, whose CSU is the traditional Bavaria state ally of Merkel’s CDU party.
