The centrality of this issue to the success or failure of Merkel's fourth term as chancellor was evident in the fact that she barely spoke of her budget at all. Instead she concentrated on migrants in general and in particular on secondary migration, non-EU migrants moving from one country to another within the European Union for economic reasons or to improve their chances at being granted asylum. [...]
"It cannot be that refugees themselves determine where their applications are processed," Merkel said, citing a deal with Greece that would allow Germany to send migrants back to that Mediterranean country. "There has to be more order to all forms of migration." [...]
At the same time, Merkel cited world-wide declines in military expenditures and the global eradication of diseases as examples both of a general improvement in the human condition and of what can be achieved though international cooperation. She also didn't neglect to mention positive German economic developments such as full state coffers and low unemployment. [...]
With SPD approval for the conservative compromise still pending, there was considerable interest in what the Social Democrats would put forward. SPD chairwoman Andrea Nahles said that after a good start, the government had "begun to sputter in the past few weeks." She added that she hoped work on issues other than migrants would resume.
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