Once again, Angela Merkel has survived to fight another day.
With her chancellorship hanging in the balance over her controversial refugee policies, Merkel quietly outmaneuvered political rivals who saw an opening to bring her down.
After a weekend spent reinforcing support for her leadership among her Christian Democrats (CDU), Merkel forced a compromise with the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian wing of her center-right alliance, to end the refugee standoff that nearly toppled her government last week.
CSU leader Horst Seehofer, who is also interior minister, agreed to put off enforcing a new rule to turn back refugees at Germany's borders until after the upcoming European Council summit, in order to give Merkel more time to negotiate with other EU capitals.
It's a long shot that Merkel will actually succeed in securing a sweeping deal over the next two weeks to return refugees who show up at Germany's border from Italy or Greece. Whether the CSU is ready for another face-off with Merkel is another matter.
“Nothing is automatic and for the CDU, it's important that we first discuss the situation among ourselves and then with the CSU to decide what we will do” if a European deal isn't reached, Merkel said in Berlin.
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