Christian Social Union (CSU) Party Chief and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer briefly spoke to the press on his next steps after leaving the CSU headquarters in Munich on Sunday.
“Today we will speak with the CDU [Christian Democratic Union] again in Berlin, in the hope that we can reach an agreement. This is imperative in terms of the capacity of the coalition and the Federal government’s ability to act. Everything else, we will see,” Seehofer said.
His remarks came hours after a press conference was due to be held at the CSU headquarters but was postponed, and after reports of Seehofer’s supposed resignation from both of his positions.
“Yes, I have said that I would make both positions available, which would be carried out in the next three days, but there is still an intermediate step of an agreement with the CDU,” Seehofer said.
Seehofer’s CSU has been embroiled in an ongoing dispute with its sister party and coalition partner, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), over asylum and migration policy, with Seehofer pushing for a more hardline stance.
SOT, Horst Seehofer, German Interior Minister (German): “Today we will speak with the CDU again in Berlin, in the hope that we can reach an agreement. This is imperative in terms of the capacity of the coalition and the Federal government’s ability to act. Everything else, we will see.”
Journalist (German): *INAUDIBLE*
SOT, Horst Seehofer, German Interior Minister (German): “Yes, I have said that I would make both positions available, which would be carried out in the next three days, but there is still an intermediate step of an agreement with the CDU.”
Journalist (German): “If you succeed, will you forego the resignation?”
SOT, Horst Seehofer, German Interior Minister (German): “I have said, that everything further will be decided after the discussion with the CDU.”
Journalist (German): “but that is an option.”
SOT, Horst Seehofer, German Interior Minister (German): “I have already said everything, but again, we will speak again tomorrow. In the interest of this country and the capacity of this government, which we want to maintain, we want to make an attempt to find an agreement on this central question of border control and turning people away, on this issue alone. And I hope that we succeed.”