(AhlulBayt News Agency) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservative party faces possible defeat in an election in her home state on Sunday, rejected charges by anti-immigrant critics that her government was spending less on Germans due to a large influx of refugees.
In an interview published in Saturday's edition of Bild newspaper, Merkel also strongly defended her decision, one year ago this weekend, to open the door to hundreds of thousands of refugees mostly fleeing conflicts in the Middle East.
"We did not reduce benefits for anyone in Germany as a result of the aid for refugees. In fact, we actually saw social improvements in some areas," Merkel said.
"We took nothing away from people here. We are still achieving our big goal of maintaining and improving the quality of life in Germany," she said, a day before a critical vote in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The big influx of refugees and migrants has dragged her approval ratings to a five-year low of 45 percent, but Merkel was unapologetic and said, faced with the same situation today, she would act no differently.
"On that weekend (in 2015) it was not about opening the border for everyone, it was about not shutting it to those who had made their way to us from Hungary, on foot and in great need of help," she told Bild.
Far fewer migrants are arriving in Germany now due to border closures in southeastern Europe and to a deal between Turkey and the European Union whereby Ankara agrees to take back people leaving its shores for Greece in return for accelerated EU accession talks and visa-free travel for Turks to the bloc.
Over the past two days, Germany has been the scene of protests staged for and against refugees in Berlin and Frankfurt.
The demonstrators in Frankfurt called on authorities to seal off German borders and change asylum policies, while a counter-protest was held by refugee supporters who accused far-right groups of fascism.
In the German capital, thousands of pro-refugee demonstrators gathered in the center of the city and blasted a refugee deal between Turkey and the European Union, which they said could pave the way for the mass deportation of asylum seekers.
Reports said police used tear gas to disperse nearly 1,000 demonstrators who had attended the Berlin rally on Friday to demand that the German government do more for refugees.
Several protesters were detained for attempting to enter the Federal Ministry of Labor, according to media reports.
Based on the deal, which was struck with the EU in March to stem the flow of refugees, refugees arriving on European soil via the Aegean Sea may be sent back to Turkey.
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