SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has distanced herself from the strident immigration rhetoric of her fellow conservative Roland Koch in a lengthy news conference aimed at calming down an increasingly fractious debate that has opened rifts in her government.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried on Tuesday to defuse a fierce debate about immigration that has poisoned the atmosphere between conservatives and Social Democrats in her grand coalition.
At a hastily convened news conference, Merkel defended Hesse state governor Roland Koch, whose call for a crackdown on "criminal young foreigners" has been labelled as xenophobic and divisive by immigrant groups and members of the Social Democrats.
But she distanced herself from Koch's rhetoric. She stressed that her government had increased funding for programs to combat crime by far-right German youths, and said she was concerned about all forms of youth crime -- be it committed by Germans or immigrants. Merkel Tries To Calm Tensions Over Immigration >>> By David Crossland in Berlin
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
