Angela Merkel: Refugee Challenge ‘Is My Damn Duty’ — but Check Out What the German Public Thinks | TheBlaze.com

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a Sunday night interview with German television that even though she at times despairs over the refugee crisis, she believes it is her “damn duty to do everything” she can to help Europe find a collective solution to the challenge.

“Sometimes, I also despair. Some things go too slow. There are many conflicting interests in Europe,” Merkel told state broadcaster ARD, quotes of which were published in the Guardian and Agence France-Presse.

“It’s my damn duty and obligation to do everything possible for Europe to find a united path,” the German leader said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures as she poses before a TV interview on the immigrant crisis with public broadcaster ARD on Sunday in Berlin. Merkel said during the interview that the EU cannot allow Greece, a country bailed out from its huge debt crisis, to plunge into “chaos” by shutting European borders to refugees. (Rainer Jensen/AFP/Getty Images)

Despite Merkel’s commitment to finding a pan-European solution to the influx of asylum seekers, a new public opinion survey showed how at odds her approach is to the preferences of Germans, nine out of 10 of whom favor a cap on migrants.

Asked how many asylum seekers Germany should accept per year, 89 percent of respondents said the number should either be limited or that no migrants should be accepted, the English-language website The Local reported Monday.

While 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany just last year, the Infratest poll showed that only 11 percent of Germans thought an unlimited number of migrants should be accepted in their country moving forward.

Twenty-one percent of Germans said no more asylum seekers should be accepted at all, the poll showed.

Merkel expressed concern that Greece could plunge into “chaos” following a move from neighboring countries to close their borders to migrants.

“Do you seriously believe that all the euro states that last year fought all the way to keep Greece in the eurozone — and we were the strictest — can one year later allow Greece to, in a way, plunge into chaos?” Merkel said in a TV interview, referring to the bailout of Greece following its debt crisis.

She lambasted countries that have tightened border controls or capped asylum applications — Austria and the Balkan countries Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia — putting more pressure on Greece, the favored entry point to Europe by migrants arriving by boat.

“The problem is that they acted independently and unilaterally, but it’s not good if a country is not involved,” Merkel said.

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