Europe

Merkel warns Cameron over migrant quotas: Report

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Germany has reportedly warned that the UK runs the risk of leaving the European Union (EU) if London insists on curbing immigration from other member states

According to German Weekly Der Spiegel the warning was made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to British Prime Minister David Cameron on the sidelines of the European Union summit last month.

According to the report, which cited anonymous government officials, Merkel told Cameron that he was reaching a “point of no return” by pushing his plan to limit immigration from other EU nations.

Merkel reportedly added that if Cameron were to go through with his planned quotas on EU citizens moving to the UK, “then that would be it.”

In addition, Merkel reportedly said Cameron’s plans undermined the core principles of the EU, such as freedom of movement for all EU citizens within the bloc.

Merkel has previously warned that any attempts by the UK to “tamper with the fundamental principles of free movement in the EU” would not be tolerated by Britain’s EU partners.

Cameron’s Conservative Party, which is under growing pressure from the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP), has said that it will try to cap immigration if re-elected in the May 2015 national elections.

The UK’s prime minister is calling for a renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership terms, saying that the reforms are crucial to persuading Britain to stay in the bloc. Cameron has also vowed to hold an in-out vote on the country’s EU membership by 2017.

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