Stressing that she has no suspicions about her decision to open Germany’s doors to refugees, Chancellor Angela Merkel has stressed that she would not alter the way she handled the refugee crisis. Merkel defended the way she handled the refuse crisis in 2015, saying that her decision/policy was “humane” in a reaction to emergency circumstances.

She added that she made the right decision to allow the refugees to enter Germany, even as she took a political hit for that. In addition, that decision drove the rise of the right-wing AfD party.

Defending her controversial decision, she said, “At that time, Germany had acted in a very difficult and humane manner. All important decisions of the year 2015 I would make again.”

She said the policy was justified in that year because of the emergency situation during that particular period.

Merkel-led Germany took more than 890,000 asylum applications in 2015. However, that massive figure tumbled significantly to 280,000 by in the following year.

As Germany goes for voting in September, opinion polls suggest strong support for Merkel’s party. However, the elections could give them a weaker mandate and AfD could surprise with its performance in the elections.