Quote:
In politics you can sometimes gauge the level of panic and fear by the speed with which previously held principles are set aside.
So with the migrant crisis.
Some open borders have been suspended, governments are contemplating talking to President Assad, long denounced as a brutal dictator, and a deal is being hastily concluded with Turkey, widely held to be an increasingly authoritarian country.
And then what is being debated in Germany - containment camps on its borders and a police union chief urging Germany to build a fence along its border with Austria - are all indicators of the political tension gripping Berlin.
Angela Merkel has called her decision to open Germany's borders to refugees a "historic challenge" - but she is no longer in charge of events.
Her increasingly restive party is muttering she is "without a plan".
So the overture to Turkey - it is born out of the failure of other policies.
Germany had put great store by burden-sharing, by getting other countries to accept quotas.
It was muscled through a meeting of EU interior ministers against the wishes of several countries.
But only a handful of refugees have been relocated. Many others are refusing to leave Germany.
It is the case that many of those seeking asylum in Germany are from Kosovo and Albania.
Both countries are considered safe and the government in Berlin wants people returned there as quickly as possible.
It did not take long for the migrants to get medical certificates which prevent them being deported.
So Turkey came to be seen as the key to managing the crisis.
The EU wants Turkey to slow the numbers crossing the Aegean.
It also wants Turkey to take back any migrants who are refused asylum and entry into the EU.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34569634
Methinks Merkel has acquired Thatcher Syndrome - she started to believe she could do no wrong. I reckon a lot of knives are being sharpened...