German Chancellor Angel Merkel attends debates at the Bundestag that centered on Germany's refugee policy | Getty Merkel faces grassroots mutiny on refugees The normally popular chancellor is told her refugee policy is failing Germany.

Angela Merkel heads to Brussels Thursday under increasing pressure from her own conservative base to take drastic measures to limit the flow of refugees into the country.

At a meeting of her Christian Democratic Union in Saxony late Wednesday, the German chancellor came under fire as local officials implored her to reinforce Germany's borders.

"Your party is no longer our CDU," Michael Weickert, a Leipzig city council member, told the chancellor.

The comment was a reference to Merkel's pronouncement last month that a Germany that didn't welcome refugees would "no longer be my country." One dissident held up a sign demanding that Merkel be "dethroned." Other participants called her refugee strategy a failure and questioned her commitment to serving Germany.

"My service to Germany is that I try to give honest answers," Merkel countered.

The heated meeting, ostensibly held to discuss ways to modernize the CDU's program, was dominated by the refugee question, reflecting the deep political challenge Merkel faces in her own camp to win support for her refugee policy.

Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer, Merkel's conservative ally and her most prominent critic on the refugee question, renewed his critique of government's handling of the crisis on Thursday.

"What people need is action," not reassurances and warm words, he said in Munich. He warned that Germany and Europe faced a "grandiose failure" if they didn't find ways to limit the number of refugees.

Merkel, speaking to the Bundestag Thursday morning before heading to Brussels, reiterated her conviction that the crisis could only be confronted through international cooperation in what she called a "historic test" for the EU. She also stressed Turkey's "key role" in finding a solution. She is due to travel to Istanbul for talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday.

Other measures to secure the EU's external borders should include staffing up the EU border service Frontex and the introduction of so-called "hotspots" where arriving refugees can be housed, registered and their claims for asylum assessed.

At the same time, Merkel said, one shouldn't make the mistake of focusing exclusively on movement between Turkey and Greece, stressing the importance of cooperating with all transit countries, including North African states, which will be on the agenda of a special EU summit on migration to be held in Malta in November.

Once more, the chancellor indirectly criticised EU countries which have been hesitant to help deal with the influx of refugees. "I expect from this Council that everyone will contribute something," she said, to applause from parliament.

This article was updated to correct the destination of Merkel's Turkish trip to Istanbul, rather than Ankara.