Germany's Merkel insists migration needs 'European answer'

BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is insisting that migration is "a European challenge that needs a European answer" amid a dispute over the issue inside her government and ahead of a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Merkel is locked in a standoff with her interior minister, Horst Seehofer, over his demand for some asylum-seekers to be turned back at the border. Merkel opposes unilateral action, arguing that it would weaken the European Union.

In her weekly video message Saturday, Merkel named migration as one of four major challenges to be addressed by German and French leaders when she meets Macron in Germany on Tuesday along with ministers from both governments.

Other issues included foreign and defense policy and the future of the euro currency zone.