 FILE - In this March 21, 2018 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, right, talk during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this March 21, 2018 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, right, talk during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin. Bavaria’s ruling party -- one of three parties in Merkel’s coalition -- demands that Germany start turning away refugees and migrants already registered in another European Union country. In an op-ed piece for the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung released later Sunday, Seehofer said he "must have the right to turn back" people who aren't entitled to enter. Seehofer leads the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union party, the sister party to Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union. Migration "is a European challenge that needs a European answer," she said in her weekly video message Saturday. While the number of people making the dangerous journey to Europe across the Mediterranean is way down from the peak three summers back, the issue has suddenly resurfaced across Europe, most notably as a result of the actions of Italy’s new government. That shows pressure is building for some kind of action to address migration challenges at an EU summit in Brussels on June 28-29 -- if even a patch rather than a comprehensive system. Bavarian Form: 
 
 Bavaria faces regional elections in October and the CSU is vying to hold on to its majority in the face of a challenge from the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. “The task of ruling our nation is not an episode from Game of Thrones but a serious matter,” Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, a member of the Social Democrats, the third coalition party, wrote on Twitter. Such a challenge to Merkel’s authority could prompt her to acquiesce (an unlikely scenario, given the blow to her authority this would entail), overrule him, or fire him—a move that would almost certainly bring the government down and trigger new elections.
– The bitter battle over immigration that's been brewing in Germany since Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the country's borders to Syrian refugees is pitting some within the leader's ranks against her. According to the Atlantic, Merkel's own interior minister, Horst Seehofer, drew up plans that would turn back migrants who've already applied for asylum elsewhere in the European Union. Merkel struck down the plan and is now facing backlash from Seehofer, whose center-right Christian Social Union party holds a leadership meeting Monday that could authorize Seehofer to push through his demand, per the AP. If he actually does so unilaterally in defiance of the chancellor, many observers believe Merkel would likely have to fire him—which in turn could effectively end her current governing coalition and the conservative parties' decades-old alliance in national politics. Merkel, meanwhile, is trying to make sure migration is seen as a problem for all of Europe, not just Germany. The chancellor has pointed to a June 28 to 29 EU summit at which migration will be a key topic as she insists on holding talks with other countries about it. Migration "is a European challenge that needs a European answer," she said in her weekly video message Saturday. "I think this issue is one of the most decisive for the cohesion of Europe." However it ends, the spat has laid bare the limits of Merkel's authority in a fractious government that took office in March after nearly six months of post-election haggling. However, as Bloomberg notes, the difficult coming-together may be what helps save Merkel in the end as her interior minister's party seeks to fend off harder-line anti-immigration rivals who could use the infighting to their advantage.