MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Germany can handle the massive inflow of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa without burdening the tax payers, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Berliner Morgenpost.
"We will not increase taxes," Merkel said in an interview with the German newspaper published on Friday adding that Germany has "the strength to do what is necessary" in order to tackle the refugee problem.
The German chancellor stressed that a fundamental reform is needed in the European refugee policy and a fair balance must be maintained between EU member states in order to deal with the inflow of migrants.
"The entire system must be redesigned," Merkel told Berliner Morgenpost, adding that refugees should be redistributed "according to the economic strength and size of a country," but it should not be allowed that only a few countries absorb the majority of migrants.
Germany is one of several EU countries facing a major migrant crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people flee the crisis-torn regions in the Middle East and North and Sub-Saharan Africa hoping to find refuge in the European Union.
Last month, Merkel said that German authorities would introduce amendments to the country’s legislation by October in order to improve conditions for hosting refugees.
Over 340,000 undocumented migrants managed to illegally enter the European Union in the first months of 2015, according to the European Union's external border protection agency, Frontex.
Germany is expecting up to 100,000 refugees this year, according to the country's Interior Ministry, which could cost Berlin from 1.8 billion to 3.3 billion euro ($2 billion to $3.7 billion) in 2016.
