MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Speaking at a Wednesday campaign rally in the German town of Neustrelitz, Merkel said, as quoted by the Ostsee-Zeitung daily, that "the phenomenon of Islamist terrorism of IS [Daesh]… [is] not a phenomenon that has come through the refugees to us, but we've also had before."
Last week, a new poll revealed that Merkel’s public support had dwindled since last month amid concerns about the implications of her open-door migrant policy and the high terror threat in the country.
17 August 2016, 16:23 GMT
Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said that they believe the Berlin-spearheaded EU deal with Turkey to curb the inflow of migrants to Europe would fail.
A significant majority, 72 percent of respondents, said they would approve of deploying federal armed forces in the event of a new terrorist attack in Germany, after a spate of killings in its south last month.
