SHARE Angela Merkel’s decision to open Germany's doors to Syrian refugees was one of the defining moments of her 16 years in power and has been a flashpoint in German politics ever since. But Mrs Merkel is bowing out this year and the candidates to succeed her at September’s election are largely unknown quantities in foreign policy – although they have struck different tones on the refugee issue. Dr Muriel Asseburg, an expert on migration and the Middle East at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told The National that the parties’ room for manoeuvre on migration was limited, as crisis-hit Germans say it is “time to focus on the domestic population’s demands”.