Malcolm Brabant:
Nearly a million migrants flocked to Germany in 2015. Chancellor Merkel has consistently defended her pro-refugee policies, but has now been punished by voters who believe she has ignored their concerns.
Chancellor Merkel has promised to listen to the people who voted for the AfD, and says she will try to win them over through what she calls good politics. But she will not support the party’s presence in her coalition.
But the chancellor must find new partners willing to take a tough stance on immigration.
While trying to form a coalition, the Chancellor agreed to set an annual cap on the number of migrants at 200,000, something she had previously refused to do. But will that be enough to attract the people who abandoned her in the elections?
Question for Werner Patzelt, Professor of Political Science at the University of Dresden.