Merkel to attend Morocco meeting to pass migration pact

Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Morocco for a December 10 conference to approve a UN-backed migration pact. Government spokeswoman Martina Fietz announced Merkel’s attendance on Friday, a day after the German parliament approved a motion endorsing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and emphasizing that the non-binding agreement doesn’t change German law, AP reported. That motion passed 372-153, with 141 abstentions. The pact has been opposed loudly by the far-right Alternative for Germany and also has drawn reservations from some in Merkel’s conservative bloc. Several countries, including the US, Hungary, Austria, Israel and Poland, have said that they won’t back the accord, to be approved at the conference in Marrakech.