Another day, another shaky deal in Europe to patch up political coalitions that are starting to crack under the weight of their own internal contradictions.

Last week it was the European Council that was performing diplomatic gymnastics to keep the peace among member states on migration, this week it is the turn of Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor.

It seems – for now – that the master-survivor of German politics lives to fight another day, but as with those European Council conclusions on migration, it can only be a matter of time before political gravity reasserts itself.

The deal struck by Mrs Merkel with the Bavarian CSU looks to have temporarily assuaged the right-wing of her conservative…

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