Germany: Merkel touts reduced refugee numbers at CDU campaign rally

German Chancellor Angela Merkel participated in a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party campaign rally at Umspannwerk Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Friday, where she spoke about the ongoing refugee crisis, the EU-Turkey refugee deal, as well as the political situation in Libya. The event was held ahead of the upcoming elections for Berlin's House of Representatives in September.
While addressing the audience, Merkel stated that "due to the deal between the EU and Turkey and the closure of the Balkans route, which is hard for Greece, we have distinctly reduced the number of new arrivals."
"The deal with Turkey is nothing else but a deal for sharing the burden and a deal concerning how to legalise migration and protect the borders," she added.
The German chancellor also called the current refugee and migrant crisis a "challenge to learn about global crises - as the European Union, as the Schengen Zone, to organise and control our own external borders."
Merkel also commented on the situation in Libya. "Whether we are successful in finding reasonable arrangements with Libya, to help the country to establish, to help other African countries to give their youth a future, will depend how we organise and control the refugee route from Libya to Italy, just like we have done with Turkey," she explained.