AFP/ GETTY Angela Merkel has once again defended her open doors migrant policy

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The German Chancellor took the blame for the crisis which has seen more than 1.1million migrants enter the country. Mrs Merkel says she is now focused on integration as she attempts to counter rising anti-migrant sentiment and support for far-right parties in local elections. But the Chancellor downplayed the crisis claiming it is not the biggest challenge she has faced in her chancellorship.

It is a big challenge, but not the first one. Think of the international financial crisis, the euro crisis or the Ukraine conflict Angela Merkel

When asked if it was unfair that she has been blamed for the migrant crisis, Mrs Merkel told German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel: “No. I am the Chancellor of this country. It happens that jointly achieved successes get only attributed to me; it is the same with outstanding issues. “It is a big challenge, but not the first one. Think of the international financial crisis, the euro crisis or the Ukraine conflict.” The under-pressure Chancellor once again defended her controversial policy, saying: “Those who have to make indicatory political decisions have to do this even if it polarises.”

After sparking outrage in Germany with her slogan “we can do it” to deal with the migrant crisis, the defiant Mrs Merkel once again attempted to justify her actions. She said: “I said this sentence, because we were faced with a huge task and are still facing and because our country can muster the strength and cohesion in order to accomplish it. Since 2015 a lot has happened. "For example, we have greatly reduced illegal migration. Of course, large integration tasks lie ahead of us and a lot has to be done about solidarity within Europe. All in all, we can say that we have come a long way in this one year.”

AFP More than one million migrants entered Germany last year

Mrs Merkel looks set to continue with her open door policy and has thrown out proposals by her coalition partners the Christian Social Union to limit the number of refugees coming to Germany each year to 200,000. The Chancellor said: “My attitude to a limit is well known. We need to protect the EU's external borders better, combat illegality, tackle the causes of flight and come to fair agreements with home and transit countries, such as the EU-Turkey agreement.” The comments come after Horst Seehofer, the leader of Mrs Merkel's coalition government partners the Christian Social Union, demanded the German leader introduce a migrant cap.

GETTY Merkel and conservative ally Horst Seehofer have come to blows over the migrant crisis

Speaking about the demand, he said: "There can't be any compromise about that. Without reaching a consensus on that, my appearance at the CDU congress would be nothing more than a media spectacle." After shocking Germans when she opened the Austrian border last summer to thousands of migrants, Mrs Merkel tried to reassure doubters by saying the episode will not happen again. She said: “All the measures we have decided on in all the recent months should help to ensure that any repetition of such a situation does not happen. “Because it isn’t good for anyone if smugglers and illegality have the upper hand - neither for Turkey nor for Europe, and least of all for the refugees whose life is at stake.

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“Refugees didn’t just come to Germany in 2015 after all. In 2013 there were already around 100 000 and in 2014 there were 200,000. "After September 4, 2015 when the German-Austrian border wasn’t closed for the people who had got into a serious humanitarian crisis in Budapest, most people started to realise this though. But the refugee crisis has lasted much longer.” The Chancellor has been warned Germany could face civil war if the migrant crisis is not handled effectively by her far-right rival Franke Petry. Mrs Petry’s populist far-right party Alternative for Deutschland has had a meteoric rise in popularity with voters angry at Germany’s migrant policy.