File photo of German Chancellor Angela Merkel arriving for the weekly cabinet meeing in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2015. People who have witnessed Angela Merkel in private over the past weeks describe a changed woman. Known for tackling the major crises of her chancellorship, from Greece to Ukraine, with the detached sobriety of a scientist, the German leader is showing more emotion of late. She cracks dark jokes about her own fate. For the first time, people in her entourage detect hints of exasperation and even self pity. TO GO WITH GERMANY-MERKEL/ REUTERS/Stefanie Loos/Files

A prominent ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel stepped up his criticism of her refugee policy on Saturday, demanding an end to the "Willkommenskultur" that has encouraged record numbers of migrants to seek asylum in Germany.

A day after criticising Merkel - as she stood uncomfortably beside him on stage - for refusing to put a cap on the number of refugees entering Germany, Bavarian leader Horst Seehofer called for "a culture of reason, not a culture of welcome."

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The CSU is the sister party of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and is a member of her coalition government in Berlin, but Mr Seehofer has emerged as her most high-profile domestic critic in recent months.

Thousands of migrants are entering Germany every day, the vast majority flowing into Bavaria over the Austrian border, and roughly a million are expected to arrive this year alone.

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Scenes of German volunteers applauding refugees and offering them food as they descended from trains in Munich station sparked the feel-good term "Willkommenskultur" ("welcome culture").

But the mood has since shifted, with critics saying Germany's welcome has only encouraged more to risk the harrowing journey from war-torn countries such as Syria and Iraq.

Expand Close Horst Seehofer, party leader of the Christian Social Union Party (CSU) and Bavarian State Premier, follows the CSU party congress in Munich, southern Germany, on November 21, 2015. Seehofer has been reelected as party leader of the CSU with 87,2 percent of the delegate's votes. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHECHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Horst Seehofer, party leader of the Christian Social Union Party (CSU) and Bavarian State Premier, follows the CSU party congress in Munich, southern Germany, on November 21, 2015. Seehofer has been reelected as party leader of the CSU with 87,2 percent of the delegate's votes. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHECHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images

Ms Merkel, who marks her 10-year anniversary in office on Sunday, has rebuffed calls from the CSU and members of her own party to impose a formal cap on the number of refugees Germany will accept, saying it would be impossible to enforce.

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A poll last week showed that 60 pc of Germans are unhappy with Ms Merkel's refugee policies.

"Seehofer humiliates Merkel," read a headline in top-selling daily Bild.

"Horst Seehofer treated the chancellor like a school girl at the CSU congress," the paper's deputy editor wrote in an editorial.

In what some may interpret as another slap at Ms Merkel, Mr Seehofer also announced plans to travel to Moscow soon to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The attacks in Paris last week that killed 129 people have created a sense in some Western capitals that cooperation with Moscow in fighting militants should be prioritised and differences over Ukraine given less importance.

But Ms Merkel is among those who are reluctant to discuss any easing of sanctions against Russia so long as the so-called Minsk peace deal for Ukraine has not been implemented in full.

Reuters