Support for Angela Merkel plunges after attacks
German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin on June 15. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
BERLIN — Popular support for Chancellor Angela Merkel has plunged, according to a poll conducted after attacks in Germany, with almost two-thirds of Germans unhappy with her refugee policy.
The survey for the public broadcaster ARD showed support for Merkel down 12 points from her July rating to 47%. This marked her second-lowest score since she was reelected in 2013. She enjoyed backing of 75% in April last year, before the migrant crisis erupted.
Merkel's open-door refugee policy has come under attack from critics after five attacks in Germany since July 18 have left 15 people dead, including four assailants, and dozens injured.
Two of the attackers had links to Islamist militancy, officials say.
Support for one of Merkel's fiercest critics, Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer, who has called for restrictions on immigration to increase security, jumped 11 points to 44%. Over a million migrants have entered Germany in the past year, many fleeing war in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq.
Merkel repeated her claim that Germany could manage to successfully integrate the influx of refugees last week and vowed not to change her refugee policy.
In a poll of 1,003 people conducted Monday and Tuesday, just 34% of people said they were satisfied or very satisfied with Merkel's refugee policy. This was the lowest level since the question since October, when the question was first asked. Some 65% were dissatisfied with the policy.
The next test of support for Merkel will be state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on September 4, where her Christian Democrats are expected to face a strong challenge from the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.
A separate poll this week showed that most Germans do not blame the government's liberal refugee policy for the two Islamist attacks last month.
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