Bavarian Prime Minister and Christian Social Union (CSU) president Horst Seehofer told Bild am Sonntag newspaper yesterday that "In Germany, the arrival of 100,000 to a maximum 200,000 asylum seekers and war refugees a year would pose no problem," he continued "This figure is tolerable and, in that case, integration would also work properly. For me, anything above that is excessive."

Seehofer has repeatedly criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU, the CSU sister-party) for her refugee and migrant policy, but this is the first time he has set an exact cap on the number of refugees and migrants Germany could accept annually in his view. Furthermore, Seehofer on more international solidarity towards Germany, saying that in Europe "the egoism is as strong as ever".

The cap has been discussed in the country since the refugee crisis begun. The opponents of the idea usually then ask what to do with the +1 refugee over the cap since “our asylum law contains neither a numbered limit nor a quota system," as CDU MP Wolfgang Bosbach and others point out. "Horst Seehofer can't even say how such an upper limit would function in practice. Would it be enforced with armed violence?" asked Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel (SPD).

Far over one million refugees and migrants have entered Germany during last year.