Merkel’s critics grow louder as more refugees flood into Germany

German politicians from the left and right accused Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on Friday of losing control of the refugee situation, before what is expected to be another record influx of asylum seekers over the weekend. Merkel has allowed tens of thousands of asylum seekers camped out in Hungary to travel through Austria to Germany in an effort to avert a humanitarian crisis.

This was a failure that we will have to deal with for a long time. I don’t see how we’ll get the stopper back on the bottle again.

Bavarian Premier and CSU leader Horst Seehofer

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said up to 40,000 refugees might arrive in Germany on Saturday and Sunday, twice as many as last weekend, when authorities in Bavaria had warned they were barely coping. In a sign that the government itself is concerned, 4,000 troops were put on standby to help with the influx, a rare step in Germany that is usually reserved for natural disasters like floods. Meanwhile a new poll carried a worrying message for the chancellor, with two in three Germans asked saying they believe the government is doing a “rather bad” or “very bad” job in handling the situation.

Germany urgently needs some time to breathe. We urgently need a signal that not everyone who is making their way to Europe can come to us.

Reinhard Sager, president of the Association for German Counties

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