Sir, – Derek Scally traces German chancellor Angela Merkel's slump in popularity to her "fateful decision of September 4th, 2015, when she set aside EU asylum rules for 20,000 Syrian asylum seekers who had set out on foot from Budapest to Austria and Germany, fearing terrible scenes if she sealed Germany's borders" ("Who could replace Angela Merkel?", Analysis, September 19th).
The “fateful decision” was announced by Dr Merkel in a prepared speech to the Berlin press corps on August 31st, 2015, when she said, “Those who are oppressed and those who are fleeing from a civil war are welcome”, adding for emphasis, “We can do this”.
The asylum seekers started walking to Germany because they had been invited there. They were the consequence, not the cause, of Dr Merkel’s fateful decision.
On September 13th, 2015, the German interior minister announced that Germany was reintroducing border controls. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Vienna.
Sir,– Some readers may be familiar with the practice of deeming a draw by the Republic of Ireland soccer team to be a victory, but to refer to the Berlin state election result as a "win" for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is wrong ("Far-right rattle Merkel in Berlin ballot", September 18th). For a start, it wasn't a two-horse race between the AfD and Angela Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The actual result placed the AfD fifth, behind the Social Democrats, the CDU, the Left party and the Greens. – Yours, etc,
GILBERT CARR,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.