German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the first time admitted Monday Europe’s open-border policy has brought terrorists to the continent.

Merkel has been fighting to keep Europe’s borders open to refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria. Germany took more than one million migrants in 2015, which turned a majority of Germans against her. One of the major fears has been the possibility of terrorists sneaking in, something Merkel now admits is the case.

[dcquiz]”In part, the refugee flow was even used to smuggle terrorists,” she said at a campaign rally Monday, according to Reuters.

Germany’s federal investigation bureau has doubled the number of migrants on its terrorist watch list from 18 in January to 40 in May. (RELATED: Germany Doubles Number Of ‘Migrants’ Suspected Of Being Terrorists)

Authorities further foiled an Islamic State-affiliated terror cell in June, after a defector revealed plans of an attack in the city of Dusseldorf. (RELATED: ISIS Sleeper Cell Uncovered In Germany After Defector Turns Himself In)

Merkel’s approval ratings have gone up since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in June. Her party, the Christian Democratic Union, has also introduced a number of measures to force migrants to integrate if they want to make their stay permanent.

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