Reducing illegal immigration best way to stop Germany's far right, says Angela Merkel

Former chancellor appears to change position after refusal to push back large numbers of asylum seekers in 2015 led to one million arrivals

Angela Merkel poses for a selfie with Anas Modamani, a refugee from Syria, at a shelter for migrants and refugees in Berlin in 2015. All photos: Getty Images

Ms Merkel poses for another selfie during the 2015 visit to AWO Refugium Askanierring shelter in Berlin

Thousands of migrants were arriving in Germany every day in 2015, most of them via the Balkans and Austria

Ms Merkel poses for another selfie

Reducing illegal migration is the “best answer” to the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country’s former chancellor Angela Merkel has said.

Critics have long argued that Ms Merkel's refusal to push back large numbers of asylum seekers during the 2015 mass refugee influx at the Austrian border led to more than one million arrivals and fuelled the rise of the far-right party.

Ms Merkel, who at the time posed for selfies with Syrian refugees, has written in her memoir that she “still does not understand … how anyone could have assumed that a friendly face in a photo would be enough to encourage entire legions to flee their homeland”. While affirming that “Europe must always protect its external borders”, she stresses that “prosperity and the rule of law will always make Germany and Europe … places where people want to go”.

However, speaking in an interview to promote Freedom: Memories 1954 – 2021, published on Tuesday, she said Europe must solve the migration crisis – and raising prosperity in countries such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco is key to doing that. She told the BBC that if Africans do not see a future for themselves at home, “the problem of immigration will only increase for us in Europe”.

She rejected the assertion that the influx in 2015 breathed life into the AfD, insisting that there are other countries in Europe with strong right-wing parties that do not have a migration problem. “I can’t hold myself responsible for the whole of Europe but of course it’s a balancing act,” she said. “That is why we took a number of measures to improve repatriation processes and to improve the integration of those allowed to stay here.”

She blamed the rise of the AfD on the euro crisis, because some in Germany felt it supported too many other countries and did not have enough resources itself. But she admitted that the party “regained support with the arrival of large numbers of refugees”.

“That’s why it’s so important that we solve the problem of illegal migration. That is why I signed an agreement with Turkey. The number of Syrian refugees arriving from Turkey fell by more than 90 per cent. The agreement with Turkey worked. So we must reduce illegal migration. That is the best answer to the AfD and we’re not there yet,” Ms Merkel said.

Her memoir also addresses Ukraine’s push to become a member of Nato, saying she tried to slow its bid over fears it would provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin. While she “understood” the desire of central and eastern European countries to join Nato “as soon as possible”, Ms Merkel said she believed their accession should improve the security of the alliance overall.

But none of the other potential members’ applications were as complicated as Ukraine’s due to the presence of Russia’s Black Sea fleet off Crimea. The eventual outcome of the summit, was, however, seen as negative by both sides. Ukraine and Georgia considered the lack of a clear path to membership as a setback for their aspirations, while Mr Putin considered the broader promise from the alliance a provocation, she wrote.