Three out of four Germans think Angela Merkel will fail to meet a deadline to find a Europe-wide solution over the migrant crisis, a survey has found.

The German Chancellor is facing a race against the clock to save her political career after her coalition partners threatened to start turning away migrants who have already been registered in other EU states.

Christian Social Union (CSU) party members gave Merkel two weeks to convince European powers to come up with a way of tackling the issue.

But a survey has found that 74.7 per cent of Germans do not believe she will be able to reach a solution that will be acceptable to her CSU allies within a fortnight.

It comes as Merkel took a swipe at tweets written by US President Donald Trump, who asserted that migrants were behind a surge in crime in Germany.

Three out of four Germans think Angela Merkel (pictured) will fail to appease her coalition partners with a Europe-wide solution over the migrant crisis

Merkel has taken a swipe at tweets written by US President Donald Trump (pictured), who asserted that migrants were behind a surge in crime in Germany

Merkel has been given an ultimatum by her coalition partners to come up with a solution to the migrant crisis. Pictured: Rescuers cover the dead bodies of migrants found on the coast of Libya

The Chancellor coolly rebuffed Trump by pointing to statistics that showed crime was in fact down.

'My answer is that the interior minister presented the crime statistics a short while ago and they speak for themselves,' Merkel told a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron when asked about a recent flurry of tweets from Trump.

'We are seeing a slight positive development. We must always do more to fight criminiality. But they were very encouraging numbers,' she added.

Statistics published last month showed that overall crime fell 9.6 percent in Germany in 2017.

A government-sponsored study published in January showed that violent crime had risen about 10 percent in 2015 and 2016, attributing more than 90 percent of the rise to young male asylum seekers.

Merkel has faced opposition at home for a decision in 2015 to open Germany's borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants, mostly Middle Eastern asylum seekers who crossed by sea from Turkey to Greece and overland through the Balkans. That route has since been closed under a 2016 deal Turkey-EU deal.

In a tweet on Monday, Trump said that the people of Germany were turning against their leadership because of loose migration policies.

'Crime is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture,' Trump said.

Donald Trump has blamed migrants in Europe for what he described as a rise in crime in Germany

The question of how many migrants the bloc can absorb came back to the fore strongly when last week Italy and Malta both turned back a rescue vessel carrying 630 refugees, which was eventually accepted by Spain. Pictured: A rescue ship arrives in Sicily on Tuesday

Europe facing migrant 'catastrophe' to rival 2015 crisis, Austria warns Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has warned of a migrant 'catastrophe' similar to the 2015 crisis if Europe does not agree a common response. The 31-year-old leader also blamed Angela Merkel for forcing countries to reinstate border controls when she welcomed hundreds of thousands of migrants into the Germany three years ago. Refugees made their way across the continent in huge numbers in 2015 with many having already fled their homelands and made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching northern Europe. Kurz, warning of a repeat of those scenes, spoke out as he and his ministers held talks with counterparts from the German CSU party, which is currently locked in a battle over migration policy within the German Chancellor's coalition government. Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (pictured) has warned of a migrant 'catastrophe' similar to the 2015 crisis if Europe does not agree a common response 'We can't wait until we have a catastrophe like the one in 2015,' Kurz said, referring to the migrant crisis of 2015-16, which saw more than 150,000 people seek asylum in Austria, a country of 8.7 million. A row over migration policy in Germany between Merkel and her CSU interior minister Horst Seehofer has shaken the stability of the government in Berlin. Kurz insisted he didn't want to take sides in an 'internal German debate' but welcomed the fact that immigration was once again being discussed by EU leaders ahead of a summit later this month. 'If the discussion in Germany has an upside, it's that there's now a new dynamic on the European level, and that there's now a bigger chance that we finally see action in the EU,' Kurz said. Without naming Merkel he also aimed a shot across her bows by making clear what he thought were the results of her decision to welcome refugees to Germany in 2015. Refugees made their way across the continent in huge numbers in 2015 with many having already fled their homelands and made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching northern Europe Those who opened the borders in 2015 'are responsible for the fact that we have border controls between Austria and Bavaria, between Austria and Hungary, between Austria and Italy, and that the situation could get even worse', he said. Kurz, who hails from the centre-right People's Party (OeVP) went into coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) after an election last year in which both parties made a clampdown on immigration a central theme. Kurz was foreign minister under the previous government and often boasts of his actions to close the 'Balkan route' for migrants in 2016. The head of Bavaria's state government, Markus Soeder, emphasised that Munich and Vienna 'have a common conviction and position' on the issue. Kurz has said he intends to make migration a key theme when Austria takes up the EU's rotating presidency at the beginning of July and has been busy seeking allies for his stance. Last week he announced that Seehofer, Austria's interior minister Herbert Kickl and Italy's new interior minister Matteo Salvini - from the xenophobic Northern League - had formed an 'axis of the willing' to combat illegal immigration. On Thursday Kurz will go to Budapest to attend a meeting of leaders from the four central European Visegrad states - Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - who have traditionally supported hardline policies on migration. This afternoon, he said he hoped a weekend mini-summit would address an 'overdue' solution to the continent's issues with migration. Officials say Germany, France, Italy and Greece, among others, will attend Sunday's gathering in Brussels to look into finding European solutions to political clashes over migration. Kurz, whose country takes over the EU presidency July 1, said Wednesday that the gathering 'is not about German domestic politics, it's about a solution of the migration question that is long overdue.' Kurz said it will address questions such as 'how we protect the (EU) external borders, how do we prevent waving (migrants) through to central Europe.' Advertisement

He followed that up with a tweet on Tuesday that said: 'Crime in Germany is up 10% plus (officials do not want to report these crimes) since migrants were accepted. Others countries are even worse. Be smart America!'

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said it was 'not the American president's role to speculate - as he did yesterday - that the German people would march towards the chancellery to remove Mrs Merkel.'

'Mr Trump may govern the USA, he doesn't govern Europe,' Juncker added.

This weekend, a mini-summit is set to take place to address a solution to the continent's issues with migration.

Officials say Germany, France, Italy and Greece, among others, will attend Sunday's gathering in Brussels to look into finding European solutions to political clashes over migration.

Meanwhile, France and Germany yesterday pushed to return asylum seekers to the EU country where they arrived - as Merkel continued to face a coalition revolt over the migrant crisis.

Macron said France and Germany are seeking deals with frontline states in Europe's migration crisis to return asylum seekers to the EU country where they were first registered, usually their point of arrival.

'France and Germany will ensure that those who are registered in a Schengen zone country can be taken back as quickly as possible to the country where they have been registered,' he said, vowing to achieve this through bilateral and multinational agreements.

Greece and Italy will be the hardest hit by the plans - as Greece has seen a massive influx of migrants fleeing the Syrian war while Italy has become the main gateway for African migrants through Libya.

Merkel faces a dangerous mutiny from her hardline Bavarian Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who has vowed to defy her and order police to shut German borders to most asylum seekers by early July if there is no EU accord

Despite yesterday's developments, a majority of Germans still remain unconvinced that Merkel will be able to appease her coalition partners with a Europe-wide solution within two weeks, a survey of 5,038 found.

The survey by pollster Civey for newspaper Die Welt, found just 18.1 percent said they trusted Merkel to deliver an agreement that was acceptable to her CSU partners within a fortnight.

Horst Seehofer, CSU leader and Germany's interior minister, wants to turn away migrants who have already registered in other EU states but Merkel opposes any unilateral move to reverse her 2015 open-door policy and undermine her authority.

Bavaria's CSU Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk he was optimistic that Merkel would secure bilateral agreements with other EU countries about returning migrants.

Hardline ally in new attack against Merkel over eurozone budget Chancellor Angela Merkel's hardline allies have taken aim at her backing for a new eurozone budget, German media reported, opening up another front in their attack against her. Merkel's Bavarian sister party CSU had on Monday already given her an ultimatum to curb migrant arrivals or risk pitching Germany into a political crisis that could rattle Europe. But the CSU now also take issue with an agreement announced Tuesday by Germany's and France's leaders to set up a common budget for the eurozone which will fund investments in poorer member states. 'We were always very sceptical about a eurozone budget. Simply because it's a form of additional budget,' Bavaria's state premier leader Markus Soeder told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Bavaria's state premier leader Markus Soeder said his party was 'always very sceptical about a eurozone budget' 'Is it separate from the German legislature? Does it mean that the fundamental stability of the euro will be challenged? All that must be clarified,' he said. Ahead of a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Linz on Wednesday, Soeder confirmed that his party will call a coalition panel to examine the issue. Germans are deeply opposed to any 'transfer union' that sees their taxes flowing to eurozone laggards. And Merkel herself had initially appeared lukewarm to the idea of a budget for the bloc. But she has since offered a key concession in backing French President Emmanuel Macron's call for such a fund. However, she said in a recent interview that the total sum should be at the low tens of billions range - far less than what Paris had hoped for. The CSU's attack on the eurozone reform proposal came in a week already marked by a deep rift between the Bavarian party and Merkel over her liberal refugee policy that allowed more than a million asylum seekers to enter Germany since 2015. Merkel's decision had proven divisive, and voters in September's elections handed her her poorest score ever and gave seats for the first time to the far-right anti-Islam AfD. Advertisement

But he pointed to comments from Seehofer that preparations would be made in case Merkel was unsuccessful so the federal police could reject migrants who have registered elsewhere from the first week of July.

'This is necessary. We can no longer look on as this refugee tourism across Europe happens,' Herrmann said.

He added that rejecting from July 1 migrants who have already registered in other EU countries would be legal: 'It's the existing law.'

Volker Kauder, head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, warned Germany against taking unilateral action on refugee policy, telling broadcaster ZDF: 'I believe that in the end we can only solve the problem with our European neighbours and not by going it alone.'

He expressed optimism that Merkel would manage to seal deals with European partner countries to take back refugees.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is likely to meet Merkel and other European leaders this week to discuss migration, he said on Wednesday.

The question of how many migrants the bloc can absorb came back to the fore strongly when last week Italy and Malta both turned back a rescue vessel carrying 630 refugees, which was eventually accepted by Spain.

The move sparked a clash between France and Italy as immigration also triggered a domestic crisis for Merkel, a leader already weakened by her decision in 2015 to keep open German borders to a mass influx of more than one million refugees.

Today, a boat carrying nine migrants, including a minor, overturned while attempting to cross the Drina river from Serbia into Bosnia. Police said no one was injured in the accident early Wednesday near the eastern Bosnian town of Zvornik.

Migrants trying to reach Western Europe have recently started passing through Bosnia to avoid other, more heavily guarded routes through the Balkans.

Authorities in the war-ravaged country have struggled with the influx of more than 5,000 people this year from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Migrants come into Bosnia from Serbia or Montenegro.

In Serbia, the government's refugee agency says that nearly 3,000 migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria are currently staying in the country's asylum centers. The report says one quarter of them are children.