BERLIN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Bavarian governor Markus Soeder (CSU) expressed hope on Wednesday that his state would be able to cooperate with Austria in implementing a controversial new "migration master plan" in Germany.
Speaking ahead of a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Soeder emphasized that Bavaria and Austria had a "shared understanding and position" on the reform of asylum policy in the European Union (EU). The CSU politician hereby also referred to his party's desire to turn asylum seekers back at the German border if they have already been registered in another Schengen area country.
Austria is set to assume the rotating presidency of the EU Council shortly. Vienna has identified a reform of European asylum policies as a key goal of its six-month term.
Yet while the CSU's plans for a stricter migration regime, which may enjoy the support of Kurz' right-wing populist government, they are opposed by the German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel. The disagreement between the two conservative sister parties over the issue has sparked a heated cabinet conflict and raised the specter of an unravelling of the ruling "grand coalition" formed by the CDU, CSU and German Social Democrats (SPD).
Merkel has warned of creating a domino effect with the "migration master plan" as Germany's neighbors rush to shut their internal Schengen borders and is instead calling for a joint European solution to the refugee crisis. The veteran stateswoman is under pressure to find an alternative ahead of an upcoming EU summit in only two weeks before the CSU threatened to press ahead with its own plans without obtaining her consent.
Soeder argued on Wednesday that while Europe was an outward-looking and open continent, better policing of the external Schengen borders and limits to immigration were necessary. "We can also achieve European measures (on asylum policy) by establishing national regulations which serve as a model to emulate for others," he said.
The Bavarian governor noted that he would welcome a European solution championed by Merkel as long as it resulted in concrete changes demanded both by the CSU and German citizens. Soeder said that the success of progress towards a new asylum regime on the EU level would ultimately hinge on whether it also enjoyed popular support.
The meeting between Soeder and Kurz on Wednesday is being watched closely in Berlin as observers across the political landscape look for clues over whether the CSU will seek to escalate its cabinet conflict with the CDU further. According to media reports, Bavarian police have already begun to turn back asylum seekers at the border to Austria.
In the meanwhile, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has abruptly cancelled a commitment to speaking together with Merkel at a memorial event in Berlin which draws attention to the historical plight of refugees on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the interior ministry cited a schedule issue as the reason for the cancellation.
