AFP, Berlin :
German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Monday to “win back trust” of voters angered by her open-door refugee policy, while admitting her share of responsibility for her conservatives’ humiliating election loss to an anti-migrant party.
“Everyone now needs to think about how we can win back trust-most of all, of course, myself,” Merkel said, speaking on the sidelines of a G20 summit in China a day after the election drubbing in her home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party clinched almost 21 percent in its first bid for seats in the regional parliament of the north-eastern ex-Communist state on Sunday, coming second and knocking Merkel’s party into third place with just 19 percent.
The AfD’s rise mirrors success enjoyed by other anti-immigration parties across Europe, with France’s Front National (FN) riding high in the polls and a far-right populist eyeing the presidency in Austria in elections on October 2.
Merkel said she was “deeply dissatisfied with the outcome of the election,” conceding that campaigning had been dominated by the influx of one million asylum seekers to Germany last year.
While she insisted that opening the borders to a mass influx of refugees and migrants a year ago was the “right” decision, she said that, as chancellor and party chief, “of course I am also responsible”.
“I consider the fundamental decisions as right, but there is much to be done to win back trust and the topic of integration will play a huge role, as well as the repatriation of those who don’t gain residency rights.”
AfD co-chief Beatrix von Storch, with her eyes on national elections next year, hailed the shock outcome as “the beginning of the end of the Merkel era”, while Bild daily labelled the result as another “slap across the face” for the chancellor.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Monday to “win back trust” of voters angered by her open-door refugee policy, while admitting her share of responsibility for her conservatives’ humiliating election loss to an anti-migrant party.
“Everyone now needs to think about how we can win back trust-most of all, of course, myself,” Merkel said, speaking on the sidelines of a G20 summit in China a day after the election drubbing in her home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party clinched almost 21 percent in its first bid for seats in the regional parliament of the north-eastern ex-Communist state on Sunday, coming second and knocking Merkel’s party into third place with just 19 percent.
The AfD’s rise mirrors success enjoyed by other anti-immigration parties across Europe, with France’s Front National (FN) riding high in the polls and a far-right populist eyeing the presidency in Austria in elections on October 2.
Merkel said she was “deeply dissatisfied with the outcome of the election,” conceding that campaigning had been dominated by the influx of one million asylum seekers to Germany last year.
While she insisted that opening the borders to a mass influx of refugees and migrants a year ago was the “right” decision, she said that, as chancellor and party chief, “of course I am also responsible”.
“I consider the fundamental decisions as right, but there is much to be done to win back trust and the topic of integration will play a huge role, as well as the repatriation of those who don’t gain residency rights.”
AfD co-chief Beatrix von Storch, with her eyes on national elections next year, hailed the shock outcome as “the beginning of the end of the Merkel era”, while Bild daily labelled the result as another “slap across the face” for the chancellor.
