It is indisputable that Germany is one of the leading countries in Europe to accommodate refugees from the Syrian conflict. Chancellor Merkel was armed with a large amount of political capital when she announced her open door policy on accepting thousands of migrants in Germany. It was her general policy that perhaps made Germany one of the most popular destinations for the migrants.
Unfortunately, her hardline political will to accommodate the refugees without any significant restrictions seem to be under duress. While even the opposition party generally supports Mrs. Merkel 's generous refugee policy, some of her party members as well as a growing nationalist party "Alternative for Germany" is slowly threatening Mrs. Merkel's political agenda (France 24 3/13/2016), which consequently is threatening her political future.
Unlike most other European nations, Germany enjoys a comfortable economic atmosphere, and the country has been wooing foreign skilled workers to support the shortage of skilled German workers. Even though the country had to finance the loan for the sovereign bailout crisis (The Guardian 2/2/2014), German labor participation rate ("Germany Labor Force Participation Rate", Trading Economics 3/13/2016) has been relatively higher than the general Euro area ("Euro Area Labor Force Participation Rate", Trading Economics 3/13/2016), signaling a stable economic situation.
Despite all positive economic indicators and the banked political capital of the chancellor, even Germany is feeling the heat from the public's growing angst of refugees. The core reason why the ultra-nationalist party is able to garner growing public support is due to European leadership's failure in addressing the long-term effects of the migrant crisis. From the people's perspective, this refugee crisis might go on perpetually, which signifies that the situation will get worse.
Regardless of the outcome of the state elections, Mrs. Merkel needs to propose a long-term solution to the refugee crisis that the European public can get behind. If Mrs. Merkel fails to propose a long-term solution that her German constituents can support, then there is no leader in Europe that can solve this crisis without risking a fractured Europe. Hopefully, Mrs. Merkel can lead Germany, and consequently Europe, out of this crisis gently, because merely building more border walls only will exasperate the problem.
