Germany’s Greens need to compromise on immigration policy if talks on forming a new governing coalition are to succeed, the leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) said, putting the chances of a deal at 50-50, Reuters reports.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to form a coalition with the FDP and Greens after her conservatives lost support to the far right in a federal election last month. The three-way alliance is untested at national level.
The three parties found common ground in areas of social policy and digital infrastructure during talks on Monday, but remained far apart on issues of immigration, fiscal and climate policies that divided them last week.
All the parties are eager to show the public they are taking measures to prevent a repeat of 2015, when Merkel’s decision to welcome people fleeing wars and persecution led to the largest influx of asylum seekers in the post-war years.
But the Greens may not accept a conservative plan to suspend the right to family reunions for asylum seekers who have only been granted so-called subsidiary protection, starting in March 2018. The Greens say that would hamper integration.
Those given subsidiary protection are given one-year visas that can be renewed, because it is deemed their home country is not safe. But they do not have full refugee status that would give them the right to stay.
European reform is another area of contention between the three party groups.
The FDP welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s push for European integration and would like more security cooperation, Lindner said, but he resisted closer budget and fiscal ties.