Bilgiler > Merkel negotiated with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to agree to admit all asylum seekers landing in Greece to his country without permitting them to continue on to Germany
Merkel negotiated with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to agree to admit all asylum seekers landing in Greece to his country without permitting them to continue on to Germany
Merkel has never expressed regret for the most dramatic act of her life. When, six months later, she was asked if she had second thoughts about her open border policy, she replied with a single word: “No.” But even as the German legislature passed its first Asylum Package, doubling the country’s budget for refugees, the chancellor was forced to fine-tune her expansive refugee policy. In what eventually amounted to a controversial €6 billion payoff, Merkel negotiated with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey—not a natural ally for her—to agree to admit all asylum seekers landing in Greece to his country without permitting them to continue on to Germany. The borders were starting to close.The Chancellor
Macron was another in a long line of peacocks with whom she had done business. Besides, Macron—unlike Putin, Trump, Erdogan, and the others—shared her values: faith in democracy, the rule of law, and pluralism. Better to enjoy a walk along the beach; drama had never been her way.
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