Germany’s interior minister is reportedly set to resign due to disagreements with Angela Merkel over her immigration policies.

News agency Dpa said that Horst Seehofer, the leader of the Bavarian-only Christian Social Union which is in coalition with Mrs Merkel, was planning to announce his resignation.

Mr Seehofer and Mrs Merkel have been at odds over Germany’s approach to mass migration. </s> MUNICH (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has offered to resign as both minister and as chairman of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union at a closed meeting of the party’s presidency, party sources said on Sunday.

Sources said Seehofer had not yet submitted the resignation and that some in the party were attempting to change his mind over the decision.

Seehofer has been pushing for Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to a tougher immigration policy. </s> Munich: German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has offered to resign as both minister and as chairman of Bavaria's Christian Social Union at a closed meeting of the party's presidency, party sources have said.

Sources said Seehofer had not yet submitted the resignation and that some in the party were attempting to change his mind over the decision.

Seehofer has been pushing for Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to a tougher immigration policy. </s> MUNICH, July 1 (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has offered to resign as both minister and as chairman of Bavaria's Christian Social Union at a closed meeting of the party's presidency, party sources said on Sunday.

Sources said Seehofer had not yet submitted the resignation and that some in the party were attempting to change his mind over the decision.

Seehofer has been pushing for Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to a tougher immigration policy. </s> Germany's interior minister has offered his resignation after a conflict with Angela Merkel over migration policy, party figures say.

Horst Seehofer has been at odds with the chancellor over her approach to mass migration.

He has threatened to turn away some categories of asylum seekers at the German border while Mrs Merkel has sought a European solution.

Sources in Mr Seehofer's party - Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) - said he wanted to "step down" as interior minister and chairman of his party, as he enjoys "no support".

The CSU tried for weeks to get Mrs Merkel to agree to reject asylum seekers at the border if they had already registered in other countries or to get a similar deal from the European Union by 1 July.

Advertisement

Image: Angela Merkel and interior minister Horst Seehofer

Mr Seehofer complained in Sunday's closed meeting with party bosses that his conversation with the chancellor had "no effect", sources said.

Germany's DPA news agency reported that some members of Mr Seehofer's party were trying to change his mind on the resignation.

It is not clear what effect Mr Seehofer's resignation could have on Mrs Merkel's government, which has looked increasingly precarious during the three-week stand-off.

The CSU and Mrs Merkel's CDU (Christian Democratic Union) have been allies since 1949 but the CSU faces a state election in Bavaria in October, and its anti-immigration stance is its main campaign platform. </s> Berlin: German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has dropped his threat to quit after hours of talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), saying the two conservative parties had the tightened border controls he was demanding.

Seehofer, leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), had offered to step down from both his positions, giving Merkel a second ultimatum on creating a hard border with Austria to stem the flow of migrants.

The clash between Merkel and Seehofer, who is also the leader of the Bavarian conservatives in Merkel's coalition, escalated after eight hours of talks on Monday failed to resolve a stand-off over a policy that would affect relatively few migrants but has become deeply political. Failure to end the stalemate could have topple Merkel's government and even end her long run as chancellor.

"After intensive discussions between the CDU and CSU we have reached an agreement on how we can in future prevent illegal immigration on the border between Germany and Austria," he told reporters on leaving the CDU's Berlin headquarters. </s> BERLIN (AP) — Germany's interior minister is expected to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's party after offering his resignation in a bitter dispute over migration policy, but there's little sign of a possible compromise.

The three-week dispute pits Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and his Bavaria-only Christian Social Union against Merkel, the head of its longtime sister party, the Christian Democratic Union.

Ahead of a difficult Bavarian state election in October, the CSU is determined to show it's tough on migration. Seehofer wants to turn some asylum-seekers back at Germany's border, but Merkel is adamant that Germany shouldn't take unilateral action.

Seehofer, who reportedly argues that measures to tackle migration agreed at a European Union summit last week aren't enough, said early Monday he would hold talks during the day with the CDU.
Interior minister Horst Seehofer offers his resignation citing a conflict with Angela Merkel over her refugee policy.