germany can do better. polls in germany open on september twenty fourth what do germans want for their country. what do the different parties stand for. and which party will come out on top. of your expertise germany's bundestag election two thousand and seventeen. germany besides german bundestag election two thousand and seventeen on d w. i'm going back and let michael has been gen when johnson of a twelve years and is running for office for the full time was mad away delighted to have the chance to speak to you here at the johnson i mean and in the german capital expense i can go i'm pleased to welcome going to hello madam chancellor magnifies the guns of almost the entire world knows your face and your name in

these uncertain times of terror and war and collapsing alliances how many people are afraid of the future and place great expectations in you. people often ask us what you are actually afraid of. i don't think fear is a good adviser we must face our challenges head on and we face huge tasks then we can consider what to do in my experience when the world works together we can move mountains when everyone has different opinions it can take a really long time to reach a solution at all but we negotiate talk and find one. was there anything that keeps you from sleeping at night. well there are situations to which i have to devote a lot of thought such as now when i think about the question of ukraine and russia . when i think about the syrian civil war which has robbed so many millions of their home. or when i think about the nuclear tests by the north korean dictator

that naturally worries me too. but rather than fearing these problems i consider how i can solve them. you have been in office for twelve years. unlimited number of terms in office harm pluralism in society democracy. i don't think so there are different systems there are direct election systems where there are usually term limits for example the french and american presidential elections . in germany we elect parties and you can't limit the number of terms for parties and those parties then select their own top candidates which is why the number of terms in office is not limited. so in germany for example the number of terms of office is limited for the president germany's head of state but not for the chancellor. i understand you correctly you are opposed to limiting the period in office for chancellor to two terms for example.

as we already said you have been chancellor for twelve years and have attended many lou and general assembly. what do you think when you hear a u.s. president donald trump threatening north korea with total destruction and the event of an attack toward time for. i am against threats of this kind and speaking for myself and the government i must say that we consider any type of military solution absolutely inappropriate and we are counting on diplomatic efforts. this must be vigorously implemented and. in my opinion sanctions and enforcing these sanctions are the right answer but anything else with regard to north korea i think is wrong and dad is why we clearly disagree with the u.s. president. did you get to talk to him after his speech. i haven't talked with him since then i did speak with him before his speech

a few days ago. i also made it clear during our phone conversation that a diplomatic solution needs to be found was. offering to act as a mediator. so i made it clear that germany is prepared to assume responsibility would alone or as part of the european union. even if this conflict is far away from germany it is one that also affects us that is why i am prepared as is the foreign minister to assume responsibility here. we took part in the go sheeting the iran agreement which i think is good and better than having no agreement at all it took many years but in the end it did limit iran's possibilities for nuclear armament. and i think we must take the same path or a similar one with russia with china together with the u.s. also in the case of north korea. also ring kim jong un.

because that's not on the agenda now i also do not intend to take steps which haven't been agreed upon that would weaken the international community of states but we can't just avoid taking responsibility either. staying with foreign policy i understand of course that you have to speak to governments who do not necessarily correspond to the level of democracy we have here. but egypt for example you signed a security agreement with egypt and according to human rights watch the interior ministry with whom you signed this agreement has itself been accused of using torture. and. we talk with every country along with the agreements we signed with them we also talk about things that bother us with egypt for example we've had long and in part very

controversial discussions about our employees from political foundations we talk about human rights abuses and situations that contravene the rule of law yet on one hand foreign policy is always about looking after our interests and on the other about safeguarding our values. and there are many reasons to help egypt become a stable country a country that enjoys a reasonable economic development. so there are reasons for us to sign a joint agreement. but it's also a country that restricts press freedom and suppresses the opposition. from d.w. for example are censored there. as i've already stated we know about this from political foundations and now for example from you. and there we clearly tell president that we criticize that we don't think it's right but not to talk to them because everything isn't just as we would wish it or to say we won't negotiate at

all with egypt i think that's the wrong approach. because egypt needs our support and through dialogue we can perhaps take small steps towards improvement. i think the major his you that our international audience also associates you with the refugee one. central question then is always how long can refugees stay in germany. what is your plan. the protected status of refugees varies on the one hand we have refugees who have been granted the full status defined by the convention on refugees there initially allowed to stay here for three years. and if after three years the situation in their homeland hasn't improved they can get permanent residency status. then they're refugees with subsidiary protection status their we look at the situation in their homeland on a yearly basis and decide accordingly so it's dependent on their protected status.

we have people who return home voluntarily such as to iraq in cities there have been liberated from i.a.s. people also return and we support these voluntary be tourney's because we want to give the people there are a reasonable chance to start over again. if the war in syria last for twenty years what will we do then if a family lives here grew up here the kids go to school and parents work. well as i said those who have the full status defined by the convention on refugees will after a certain time get permanent residency status with people who are earning a living and supporting themselves we could review their cases however let's hope the syrian conflict won't last twenty years. but given the situation in syria the people who are here at the moment have no reason to fear being sent back.

i have visited many refugee facilities and spoken with the people and there. are. many refugees are becoming frustrated. right now they feel abandoned what precisely do you want to do. it took a long time to process so many applications that was a problem. but the good news is we're now down to only one hundred thousand unprocessed applications and hundreds of thousands have already been given a decision one way or the other. many people don't realize refugees first have to take a german course before they can start school or job training. and that takes time. but we do our utmost to get young people into education. and even those without a full residence permit can work or learn a trade. nevertheless

many see german bureaucracy as being very slow and would like to be able to enter the labor market much faster. but we cannot allow that either because we cannot allow destructive competition that perhaps germans who are seeking employment cannot find certain jobs we have to keep on finding a balance there. germany is an orderly country but that means things may take a little longer and i can only ask. her most recent like to focus on another group that has been living in germany for a long time people of turkish origin we keep hearing that many of them still feel a question as to where they actually belong hasn't been answered could this perhaps due to the fact that your party still doesn't accept that germany is an immigration country. we have long since said goodbye to the times when we

called these people guest workers everyone is able to acquire german citizenship that means people with turkish roots can become just as german as those whose families may have lived here for centuries. i always tell people who've been here a long. time but might not have german citizenship that they have contributed to the prosperity of our country and therefore belong here if they obey the law of course. what worries us is the fact that different groups from turkey are maybe spying on our surveilling each other we do not want that. i don't want to import any conflicts from turkey to germany we will make sure that all groups can live here peacefully and unharmed. how exactly do you want to do that make sure that precisely that doesn't happen. by investigating every case by really encouraging people who feel they are being watched to inform us and then taking

decisive action against the respective sources or those doing that. almost all of your coalition partners want a real immigration law i'm not talking about the law regulating the immigration of skilled workers but about a real immigration law is that something you are willing to negotiate on. i believe that our proposed law on skilled workers is exactly what others might describe as an immigration law. we say that our country needs to bring in skilled workers we have a shortage of specialists and the european union's blue card scheme offers us very good options for immigration especially for high earners with academic degrees. we'd like to improve this and extend it to simple occupations. but these need to be linked to the existence of a real job that cannot be filled any other way. and i think that is the right thing

to do because we do not want immigrants to end up in our welfare system as the service is non-negotiable few. details have to be negotiated we know for example that canada has long preferred a point based system but is now also looking at the question what jobs to we actually want to fill it needs to be said that immigration laws are always aimed to serve the needs of the country into which people come. by contrast asylum laws the refugee convention is a humanitarian obligation that is not tied to a workplace. and these are two separate issues. and that is why we've made our position clear by naming it the law regulating the immigration of skilled workers. and. chancellor of germany is voting this according to the f.t.

could become the third or strongest party in the. haven't you been able to prevent this. so i do not wish to speculate about the outcome of the election as you can understand but i will call on the as many people as possible to support what we in the c.d.u. and c.s.u. are offering with their votes. are two parties have had certain disagreements especially about the euro and its stabilization also on refugee policy. i believe these were fundamental decisions for europe for the single currency and for humanitarian commitments. they have naturally also provoked discussions throughout society some of them heated. but i think these decisions were both correct and necessary and that is why we must try to solve the problems that are connected to. people trust and let them know that every vote counts but in certain situations

fundamental decisions like these have to be made. to go to the ws germany's international broadcaster many people keep asking us germany is so well off you have good schools you have decent health care and a good retirement program. yet despite all this the f d this populist right wing party is so successful can you try to explain this to our international viewers. i don't want to explain this because i will never work with the f.t. but i just want to say that there are indeed people in germany who have problems this does not justify certain political attitudes or exclusion but we must also work very hard to ensure that we have equal living conditions. we have rural areas where internet access is slow to arrive in which there is a shortage of doctors. we have people who have worked for many years and still have a very small pension. and that is why even though our country ranks highly by

international standards here too many people have to struggle to make ends meet. so and again or with my modeling to go on of writing another question about the f.t. according to polls some of those has who up to now have voted for the c.d.u. or c.s.u. are migrating to the f.d.a. do you have an idea on how to win these voters but how. can your business and we are not the only ones affected by this phenomenon of mine on my answer is clear to solve people's problems the worries they have having their own jobs as well as decent schools and doctors to really take care of these issues but on the other hand to signal a clear stop to hatred and violence. house or divides us it's a matter of us magaw thank you very much to finish we always like to ask the same question imagine you had to spend one month on

a desert island and could only survive if you took one of these people with you as one of the other party candidates. and you need to choose one of these people you want survive it women i take your him how man city you and c.s.u. your other mammal or our international audience you're welcome hammon is the partner to chancellor merkel c.d.u. what would you discuss with him on the desert island sometime in the spring of the examine them. i would discuss with him how we can improve internal security in germany and perhaps he would ask me a few policy issues that he hasn't dealt with yet. so for those guys i think you very much ms magazine you're welcome ramanathan and i will always vanish with a quick selfie on it would you know i'm sure it's a hundred you pass me the mobile phone please because you and your mother thought control of everything was in order with.

this is the town of britain fed in eastern germany. and that game on the woman with the red ponytail considers macko an enemy she wants to throw are out of office. he's done nothing for germans just foreign else does and says he restates. pretty fair does a stronghold of the wrecked wing populist a.f.d. party. many local residents don't like the chance there or her government and they make that clear when she arrives for her speech yeah. that's right also since so many refugees came to germany in twenty fifteen her money there was

a humanitarian emergency of rationing it's once to come soon. but this may still be in there. and this just enough i would like to thank all the local politicians it's a gun in the common to the churches and n.g.o.s and associations for all they did to help people who just want you know under immense gets done. the crowd reaction is mixed some obviously disagree with the chancellor. many of the refugees are following the election campaign closely. but on and off shon his friends arrived from afghanistan in two thousand and fifteen. and they don't understand why the a.f.p. supporters are so upset. some of them don't have jobs or money so they complain about mrs merkel but that's wrong. in germany everyone can work get training and

find a good job and. i think. the chancellor makes a low profile departure she just as soon avoid this crowd. this is the city of new tricks often in southwestern germany some c.d.u. supporters are also opposed to merkel's refugee policy. it's just. i'm really concerned i want my country to be safe i want secure borders so we know he were letting in. a year ago michael's poll numbers were down many blamed her for a series of terrorist attacks but she managed to regain much of her popularity still there are some here who are not pleased with the chancellor. there shouting get out and america must go. yes.

of course islamist terrorism poses a huge challenge. but we can't fight it with shouting doing right and no five the other day kandice says that he's not sure. we can only face the challenge by working together you know when you win and by working with the european union europe is important for us security both at home and abroad. merkel is by no means a nationalist but she does understand the concepts of german homeland prosperity and security. guard more a better arrive from syria and twenty sixteen after their homeland prosperity and security were destroyed in the civil war their. invention if you are doing so would

come in the most you can use even though it is easy to talk to even going so if you thought you were here in these storms or. to see this wonderful woman is like a dream come true for me. i can't describe it. after the chancellor has left the stage one of her staffers poses for a few selfies. so. she also plays down the role of the right wing hecklers says the d.n.a. in the media how people always travel around with. it is part of our democracy but it doesn't speak very well for a country in a democracy it's important to listen to others you can be critical but always treat others with respect and. nuremberg in southern germany the c.d.u. c.s.u.

is pro-business wing is meeting at the convention center. they've been some of america's most outspoken critics in recent years. and they've often contradicted her in public. a year ago the chancellor would have felt like she was walking into a lion's den but the internal party criticism has died down. here in america focuses on economic successes in the digital future not refugees. footsie young that's when discussed when i became chancellor ten twelve years ago no one had a smartphone that money would alter us to sign autographs there were no selfies things have changed this since all the time when families sit around the table puff of them and looking at their what's up messages under the table. we have to remember to talk to each other and not focus on communicating with someone on the other side of the well or is that in humans on some of it silly. i'm an american

who has managed to turn her campaign around and she's done it quietly to even her critics including cost and then a month to admit that she has changed things for the better. is good day it's not evil there is now some consensus the chancellor herself says that there can be no repeat of twenty fifteen everyone has to work towards successful integration because people are coming to us from very different cultures there's a very clear agreement out of the contents of. the it was already there and then it's on to the next stop. go right to torture you know it just i just would. burn out the day of the t.v. debate between the two top candidates for chancellor. it's the first time the two candidates are squaring off against each other yes p.d.'s martine sean says far

behind in the polls that he could help him to improve his ratings. the over there and the debate is underway narco presents herself as an indispensable crisis manager but the moderator challenges her on her apparent attempts to try to be all things to all people at the sunrise yes no but it's not my thing that people change in the course of their lives but the challenges that they think are always new don't realize the fog that other company was marching troops attacked the chancellor on her refugee policy i noted that. in an interview with mrs merkel said that she would do what she did in twenty fifteen again if she had to i would not recommend that. we made the mistake of not involving our european partners we presented them with a done deal. and this means that today the home darian and polish leaders are

shirking their responsibilities in poland so he also fought a volatile student after the debate merkel met some of her more enthusiastic supporters not to get them back to the ground and get some things with their friends on the bus whatever she was. going to drift you want to know. in the.

world of cultural treasure was under threat. centuries old manuscripts in timbuktu . in two thousand and twelve islam is occupied the west african desert. the destruction of these priceless folks.

at full speed. mostly today and in the future. drive it on t w. were.

seventeen but he told incest bawn to learning to talk to her first.

this is d. w. news coming to you live from berlin german chancellor angela merkel tells t w she's ready to join talks to resolve the north korea crisis and she says donald trump is doing it all wrong in my opinion sanctions and enforcing the.