Merkel’s Approval Rating Plunges Following Attacks in Germany
Senior members of Angela Merkel’s party defended her refugee policy after the German chancellor’s approval rating plunged in the wake of a series of attacks that unsettled the public and sparked political opposition.
Voter support for Merkel slumped 12 percentage points to 47 percent in July, the second-lowest of her third term that started in 2013, according to an Infratest dimap poll this week for ARD public television. Two-thirds said they oppose the chancellor’s handling of the refugee crisis. Support for Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer, one of her biggest political adversaries during the refugee crisis, rose 11 points to 44 percent.
“We won’t allow terrorists and violent criminals to change our European-western way of life,” Peter Altmaier, Merkel’s chief of staff, said in an interview with Berliner Zeitung published Friday. “This includes the protection of human dignity and help for people in need. We need to check security measures but the fact remains that Germany will also fulfill its humanitarian obligations in the future.”
Germany was hit last month by a shooting spree, an ax attack, a suicide bombing and a machete assault that left 13 people dead. Three of the four assaults involved refugees; none of the attackers arrived in the most recent influx over the last year. Merkel said last week that she remains convinced of the motto she adopted in 2015 -- “we will do this” -- even as she accused the attackers of mocking the country that took them in.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-05/merkel-s-approval-rating-plunges-following-attacks-in-germany