It’s been proven a myth that you can have strong borders without willing the means

It is tough leading a shaky coalition government, following poor election results, and with your personal support dwindling. Forced by your own ministers into compromises you do not believe in, and reduced to proposing policies that will be rejected by other EU member states, it can be embarrassing.

Yet Angela Merkel fights on as Germany’s Chancellor.

Europe’s migration crisis – sparked by Merkel’s government three years ago – has quickened the populist advance across the continent. The Hungarian government is busy vilifying immigrants and minorities. The Italian Prime Minister talks about drawing up lists of Romany gypsies. For the first time since the Second World War, Nazis sit in Germany’s Reichstag. And even in the great liberal victory won by Emmanuel Macron, one third of the electorate voted for the French National Front.

Immigration is not the only factor in this worrying trend, but it is an important one. In 2015, when the migration crisis began, more than 1.8 million people were detected crossing Europe’s borders illegally. Italy has had more than 471,000 people land on its shores as the crisis has gone on. Germany received 1.1 million asylum applications in 2015 alone.