German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to the Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maiziere during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin. (Reuters)
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere retains the confidence of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a government spokesman said today, after a spat within her cabinet over whether to limit the asylum rights of refugees from Syria.
The government was forced to clarify on Friday that its asylum policy for refugees from Syria remained unchanged after de Maiziere said their applications would be handled differently in the future and that they would be barred from having family members join them.
Asked if de Maiziere retained Merkel's confidence, government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference: "Of course he does."
© Thomson Reuters 2015