Germany's Merkel on 2015 migrant influx: 'we managed it'

Chancellor Angela Merkel has a positive verdict on the influx of migrants to Germany in 2015 and 2016 as she prepares to step down: “We managed it.”

BERLIN -- Chancellor Angela Merkel has a positive verdict on the influx of migrants to Germany in 2015 and 2016 as she prepares to step down: “We managed it.”

Merkel became the face of a welcoming approach to migrants as people fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere trekked across the Balkans. More than 1 million asylum-seekers entered Germany in 2015-16. The chancellor insisted repeatedly that “we will manage” the arrivals, but ran into resistance both at home and among European partners.

Merkel is expected to leave office in the coming weeks after 16 years in power. She is preparing to step down with a legacy defined primarily by her handling of a series of crises.

Asked in an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle posted late Sunday which crises she found the most personally challenging, Merkel identified the coronavirus pandemic and “the large number of refugees who arrived, which I don't like to describe as a crisis — people are people.”