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The country’s three-month-old coalition could soon collapse after hours of talks between the German Chancellor and her Bavarian allies on Tuesday failed to resolve the migrant crisis row.

Ms Merkel now heads to an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday - with some suggesting it could be her last - hoping that her European allies will at least help her find a solution to the problem that has threatened her leadership.

But even sympathisers have questioned whether this will even be enough to ensure her survival.

One adviser to an EU premier told the Financial Times: “I don’t want to predict how it ends. Some will say: let her suffer and let her fall.

“She has tonnes of enemies around the table who would be happy to see her gone. They will have no pity.”