Chancellor Angela Merkel's migrant troubles have reignited in the new year but the German leader is sticking to her guns, insisting her country will manage the challenge and that diplomacy can bring solutions.
A surge of robberies and sexual assaults on New Year's Eve in Cologne and the fact that some of the suspects were asylum-seekers — have highlighted the difficulty of integrating so many newcomers.
Public opinion toward refugees has been souring for months in Germany, although polls suggest political support for Merkel's conservatives is down only slightly.
While Germany doesn't hold a national election until late 2017, smaller votes this year starting with three state elections in March will offer a test of the mood.
"The events of New Year's Eve have again shone a spotlight on the challenges we face, made them clear from a new side we had not viewed so far," Merkel acknowledged.
Within days, her government proposed legislation to make it easier to deport criminal foreigners.