German Chancellor Angela Merkel leads a board meeting of her Christian Democratic Union party at the headquarters in Berlin, Monday, July 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) (Associated Press) 
 
 German Chancellor Angela Merkel leads a board meeting of her Christian Democratic Union party at the headquarters in Berlin, Monday, July 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) (Associated Press) 
 
 BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel and her rebellious political allies broke an impasse over immigration that threatened to bring down Germany's coalition government by agreeing on a compromise late Monday that both sides said addressed their concerns. 
 
 Merkel has been at odds for more than three weeks with Interior Minister Horst Seehofer over his insistence that migrants who have sought asylum elsewhere in the European Union should be turned away at Germany's borders. Seehofer leads the Christian Social Union, the sister party to the chancellor's Christian Democratic Union. 
 
 Merkel was equally steadfast in arguing that such a unilateral action would cause other countries to close their borders and jeopardize the passport-free movement that is a hallmark of Europe's Schengen zone. 
 
 But the two emerged from about five hours of talks saying they agreed to establish "transit centers" on Germany's border with Austria where asylum-seekers would be evaluated and, if it turned out they already had applied for protection in another EU country, sent back to that country. 
 
 Individuals who are rejected by those countries will be pointed back into Austria "upon agreement" with Vienna, according to the deal that Merkel called a "very good compromise." 
 
 "The spirit of partnership within the European Union is protected, and at the same time it's a decisive step to regulate and organize secondary migration," she told reporters without taking questions. 
 
 It was not immediately clear whether Austria had already agreed to the provision. Whether the two conservative parties would be able to get Merkel's junior coalition partner, the center-left Social Democratic Party, to agree also was an open question. The Social Democrats previously rejected the idea of transit centers. 
 
 While the deal sounded very similar to one offered by Merkel and rejected by Seehofer last week, the interior minister said he was happy with it, saying the compromise would have a "very clear lasting effect on the future." 
 
 Seehofer offered his resignation both as interior minister and leader of the Bavaria-only CSU at a party meeting Sunday. He agreed to put it off until after one more round of talks with Merkel and said Monday he would remain in both posts. 
 
 "I'm happy we were able to achieve this compromise, and it shows that it pays off to fight for your convictions," Seehofer said. 
 
 Seehofer and Merkel have long had a difficult relationship and sparred over Germany's approach to managing immigration on and off since 2015, when the chancellor welcomed refugees into the country. 
 
 However, the current dispute arose as far fewer newcomers have sought to enter Germany. It came ahead of a difficult Bavarian state election set for October that has the CSU determined to show that it is tough on migration. 
 
 In recent days, speculation focused on the possibility that Merkel would fire Seehofer if he went ahead with his plan. That would likely have ended the seven-decade partnership of the CDU and CSU, which have a joint parliamentary group, and would leave the government just short of a majority. 
 
 In comments to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper ahead of Monday's renewed talks with Merkel, Seehofer complained he was in an "inconceivable" situation. 
 
 "I won't let myself be fired by a chancellor who is only chancellor because of me," he was quoted as saying, an apparent reference to the CSU's traditionally strong election results in Bavaria. 
 
 Before the sides met, CDU leaders and lawmakers stressed the importance of maintaining the conservative alliance, Germany's strongest political force for much of its post-war history. 
 
 Merkel had argued a plan to regulate immigration that EU leaders approved Friday and bilateral agreements in principle that she hashed out with some EU countries for them to take back migrants would accomplish what Seehofer seeks. 
 
 But the more conservative CSU worried its credibility was at stake as it tries to curb support for the rival anti-migration Alternative for Germany party, known as the AfD, in the Bavarian election. 
 
 So far, however, the gambit has played poorly in polls and Germans seem to be losing their patience. 
 
 "I think it's caused by the atmosphere with the AfD," said Joerg Hauvede, 47, as he left Berlin's main train station. "I hope that the CSU will receive their just deserts for their actions." 
 
 The Social Democrats, who have largely been bystanders so far, demanded that their coalition partners get their act together, and planned a meeting with the conservative leaders. Party leader Andrea Nahles said "the CSU is on a dangerous ego trip that is paralyzing Germany and Europe." 
 
 "The blame game between CDU and CSU must end, because it is irresponsible," she said. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Miriam Karout contributed to this story. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Chancellor Merkel had been duelling with erstwhile ally Horst Seehofer (R) 
 
 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reached a deal on immigration to end a row which threatened to break up her four-month-old coalition government. 
 
 Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who leads her Bavarian CSU allies, has now dropped his threat to resign. 
 
 Mrs Merkel agreed to tighten controls at the Austrian border to stop people who have applied for asylum in other EU countries from entering Germany. 
 
 Transit centres will be set up to hold them until they can be sent back. 
 
 Mrs Merkel described the deal as a good compromise after tough negotiation. 
 
 But her centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) partners in the coalition voiced scepticism. Their spokesman on migration, Aziz Bozkurt, told the daily newspaper Die Welt that "transit centres are in no way covered by the coalition agreement". 
 
 The SPD rejected a proposal for such centres in 2015, when the migrant numbers entering Bavaria from Austria were far higher than now. 
 
 'Merkel is having to adapt to a changed Europe' 
 
 BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill writes: 
 
 Angela Merkel has quelled the mutiny that threatened to destroy her coalition government. And, it seems, pacified her rebellious interior minister, who was still raging as he went into last-ditch emergency talks last night. 
 
 Horst Seehofer, who also leads Mrs Merkel's Bavarian coalition partners, had snarled that he wasn't going to be thrown out by the woman he had put in power. 
 
 Read Jenny Hill's analysis in full here. 
 
 'New border regime' 
 
 Mr Seehofer's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) is the Bavarian sister party of Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). 
 
 The CDU-CSU deal speaks of a "new border regime" in Bavaria. 
 
 The Austrian government says it is seeking clarification of that, and it is preparing measures to protect its southern borders with Italy and Slovenia. 
 
 Is the deal legal? 
 
 By Laurence Peter, BBC News 
 
 The deal raises various questions about fair treatment of asylum seekers, as well as questions about the functioning of Schengen - the EU's passport-free travel across internal borders. 
 
 The idea of the new transit centres appears similar to the transit regime at airports, where travellers do not actually enter the country. 
 
 But in many cases it may not be easy for Germany to identify which irregular migrants have already registered in another EU country. So how long will they have to stay in a transit centre? Such centres may well need tight security, to keep out people-smugglers and other criminals. Would such a closed regime encourage abuse of human rights, or turn them into prisons? 
 
 There is much wrangling over EU asylum policy; it is being revised, so there are currently legal grey areas. Because of that, Mrs Merkel is making bilateral deals with EU partners. 
 
 For example, Germany and Austria are both in the Schengen zone and, under its rules, they reimposed temporary border controls because of "continuous secondary movements" of migrants. That is, migrants who moved to Central Europe from the country where they first arrived. 
 
 On Friday, the EU agreed to set up voluntary "controlled centres" across the EU, to separate refugees - those entitled to international protection - from other migrants. Germany could argue that the planned transit centres comply with that deal. But the language used is vague, lacking detail; governments appear to be doing political quick fixes. 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Passau in Bavaria was on the frontline of Europe's 2015 migrant crisis 
 
 What is the political compromise here? 
 
 Mr Seehofer had threatened unilaterally to empower border police to turn away migrants who had registered previously in another EU country. 
 
 Mrs Merkel opposed any such unilateral action - she insisted on agreement with EU partners. 
 
 Under her controversial open-door policy in 2015, more than one million migrants - many of them fleeing the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - entered Germany. 
 
 Under the new deal, transit centres will screen migrants and send back those registered elsewhere - provided Germany has a bilateral agreement with the country concerned. That is a more regulated procedure than what Mr Seehofer had demanded. 
 
 If there is no such bilateral agreement, a migrant will go back into Austria. But it is not clear whether Austria's screening procedures will mirror Germany's. 
 
 Mrs Merkel says Greece and Spain have agreed to take back migrants stopped at the Bavarian-Austrian border who are proven to have entered their countries first. 
 
 But Italy - where most irregular migrants arrive - does not want to take back migrants who reach Germany. 
 
 The divisions within the German government reflect a bigger split in the EU over migration. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland - the Visegrad Group - refuse to accept any migrants from other EU countries.
– Germany's Angela Merkel has struck a deal to remain in power, at least for now. Merkel, long seen as a champion of the rights of immigrants to move freely within the European Union, agreed to toughen border policies to end a revolt from within her own governing coalition, reports the BBC. The big concession is that Merkel agreed to set up "transit centers" on the German-Austria border and make it easier to turn some immigrants away. The "transit centers" are essentially "migrant camps," reports the New York Times, which sees the Merkel deal as a "spectacular turnabout" on her part. Details: Little choice: Merkel's own conservative interior minister, Horst Seehofer, forced Merkel into the move by threatening to resign and bring down her government. The two emerged with the deal late Monday after about five hours of talks, reports the AP. Seehofer leads the Christian Social Union, the sister party to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.