“We want and intend to considerably decrease the number of refugees because everyone is interested in this,” Merkel said during a Christian Democratic Party session in Karlsruhe.
According to Merkel, various measures need to be taken on the national and international levels and that European Union members must communicate in issues over migrant policy.
Almost one million refugees fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa have received or applied for refugee status in Germany so far this year, according to German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
In late November, Merkel hosted a meeting of nine EU countries willing to accept additional migrants as Germany would not be able to take in another 1.1 million registered refugees for the second year in a row, according to the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Gunther Oettinger.
