Christian Social Union (CSU)

Germany only has capacity for a maximum 200,000 asylum seekers a year, about a fifth of the number it received in 2015, Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer said on Jan. 3.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Minister-President of Bavaria Horst Seehofer are expected to discuss the refugee crisis during the latter's visit to Bulgaria on Friday.

Bavaria is the first German state on the way of refugees coming from the Western Balkans route.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy towards refugees and embrace of Turkey drew criticism on Oct. 19 from conservative allies, with one senior Bavarian politician warning against any consideration of European Union membership for Ankara. 

Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives has slipped by two percentage points due to divisions within her parliamentary bloc over a third bailout for Greece and even her own popularity has taken a hit, a poll showed on Aug. 26.

Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Party (CDU) dropped by 2 percentage points to 53% in a poll published Wednesday. Merkel’s popularity was also negatively affected, as the findings revealed that inter-party squabbling over the 3rd Greek rescue plan has taken its toll on the CDU.

Angela Merkel will seek a fourth term as head of Germany's government in the 2017 elections, Der Spiegel reports.

Sources quoted by the prominent weekly suggest that Chancellor Merkel has already discussed her campaign with members of the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), but is not to announce her bid before the beginning of 2016.

By Paul Carrel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing growing opposition among her ruling conservatives to granting Greece any further bailout funds, increasing pressure on her to drive a hard bargain with Athens.

A senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc announced Tuesday he was stepping down in a dispute over the government's response to Greece's debt woes.

Peter Gauweiler, a well-known euroskeptic and outspoken critic of euro bailout funds, said he was quitting both his seat in parliament and his position as his Bavaria-based party's deputy leader.

German conservative politician Hans Michelbach commented today on the statements Greek Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos made yesterday on the issue of WWII reparations that Greece demands from Germany.

By Matthias Sobolewski & Stephen Brown

German Chancellor Angela Merkel narrowly averted a far bigger rebellion last month on Greece's bailout extension among her conservatives, many more of whom would have voted 'Nein' but for her finance minister's powers of persuasion, lawmakers said.