Merkel insists on seeking European solutions for migration dispute

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel insists on seeking solutions for the migration dispute with her Bavarian sister party with other European countries, German federal spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Friday.

Seibert said Merkel had made a proposal, and it is now working on its implementation, in a bid to find solutions in close cooperation with the other states affected by the European refugee crisis.

The ruling Union Party in Germany recently got stuck in internal conflicts between Merkel-led Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) led by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.

Seehofer wants to reject asylum seekers at German borders who are already registered in other EU countries, while Merkel has explicitly ruled out Seehofer's proposal.

The CSU has set an ultimatum the CDU boss on Monday and Seehofer announced that he could otherwise arbitrarily order a rejection of migrants at the border, drawing the Union on the brink of breakdown.

Merkel argued for a compromise in which Germany, ahead of an EU summit at the end of this month, would try to conclude bilateral deals with other EU countries.

CSU is also facing state elections in Bavaria in October where they're hoping to defend their absolute majority against the anti-migration far-right populist Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD).

Asked whether Merkel felt pressured by the ultimatum, Seibert said "as with all negotiations, one has better prospects of success if one has a certain freedom of negotiation."