Angela Merkel’s Approval Rating Plummets after Attacks in Germany - Poll

German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a statement on the shootings in Munich at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 23 July 2016. EPA/BGNES

Public support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel has dropped in the wake of a recent series of attacks in the country, mainly on account of the government’s welcoming policy towards refugees, a new poll showed on Thursday.

The approval rating of Merkel’s work as head of government has decreased to 47%, down 12 percentage points from July, according to a poll of 1,000 people conducted by ARD TV station. Thirty-four percent of the respondents in August poll said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the government's open-door policy towards refugees.

This was Angela Merkel’s second worst poll score since her re-election in 2013. In February 2016, 46% of the respondents approved of the German Chancellor, according to thelocal.de.

Angela Merkel has defended her open-door policy towards refugees despite the attacks.

An asylum seeker from Afghanistan armed with an axe and a knife attacked passengers on a train in Wuerzburg and an asylum applicant from Syria blew himself up outside a music festival in Ansbach last month. Both attackers claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.

There were two more migrant-related attacks in July. In Munich, a German-Iranian shot dead nine people before killing himself. In Reutlingen, a Syrian killed a woman and injured two others in what was believed to be a domestic incident.

 

 

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