.... “I will not change my politics a jot,” Seehofer told Der Spiegel magazine, which said he was deeply annoyed by Merkel contradicting him.
A week ago, Seehofer told the Bild daily that “Islam does not belong” in Germany, prompting Merkel to say on Wednesday during her first government statement to parliament since starting her fourth term in office: “Islam has become part of Germany.”
Germany is home to some four million Muslims, including many Turks who have lived there for decades as well as migrants and asylum seekers who arrived in the past few years, many fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.
Seehofer, who leads the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has long been a thorn in the chancellor’s side - especially over immigration and the role of migrants in Germany. [Reuters] Read more
