Merkel says EU has OBLIGATION to accept refugees and insists Islam NOT source of terrorism
ANGELA Merkel has said the European Union (EU) has an obligation to accept refugees as she insisted Islam is not a source of terrorism.
By ALIX CULBERTSON
Express.co.uk
Sat, Feb 18, 2017
The German Chancellor launched a staunch defence of her controversial refugee policy which allowed more than 1.1million migrants into the country in 2015, prompting protests and social upheaval.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference today, she said the bloc as a whole has a duty to accept even more refugees.
During the wide-ranging speech, she also said Islam is not a source of terrorism and told the audience, which included US Vice President Mike Pence, Muslim states need to be involved in the fight against terrorism, as does Russia.
Mrs Merkel, said: “The joint fight against Islamic terrorism is one area where we have the same interests and we can work together.”
The German leader has been highly critical of a US travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.
Earlier this week US Defence Secretary James Mattis issued a stark warning to fellow NATO countries as he threatened the US will “moderate its commitment” to the alliance unless member states meet the two per cent defence spending target.
Three days after the warning Mrs Merkel told the Conference Germany would do “everything possible” to meet the target by 2024.
The seven-year framework may not quell US anger after Fabrice Pother, former head of policy planning for NATO’s secretary-general, on Thursday said Germany alone is the answer to the alliance’s spending woes and would shore up a third of the £80billion deficit if it just met the two per cent target.
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