Merkel Says Refugees Are an 'Opportunity' for Germany's Future

In her New Year address to the nation German Chancellor Angela Merkel will urge her countrymen to views migrants “an opportunity for tomorrow.”

In the pre-released text of the speech, she is set to make Thursday evening, Merkel admitted integrating refugees from war ravaged countries would cost Germany “time, strength and money” but said the country is strong enough to cope.

“I am convinced that if we tackle the formidable task posed by the influx and integration of so many people in the right way today, then this will represent an opportunity for us tomorrow,” Merkel will say.

“It’s true, we live in challenging times. But it’s also true that we can do this, because Germany is a strong country.”

The chancellor also asked Germans not to follow the anti-migrant groups who have staged numerous protests against the arrivals, who mainly hail from Syria and Afghanistan.

NEWS: Over 3,700 Refugees Died in Mediterranean in 2015, Highest Ever

“It is crucial not to follow those who, with coldness or even hatred in their hearts, lay a sole claim to what it means to be German and seek to exclude others,” the text read.

In 2015 Germany received approximately 1.1 million migrants which is five times the number they granted residency to in 2014, according to local paper the Saechsische Zeitung.

#GRAPHIC: Over one million migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea in 2015, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says pic.twitter.com/PSDZjPjFuc

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 30, 2015

Merkel’s stance on migrants led to her being named Time magazine “Person of the Year” earlier this month, but the policy has drawn drawn criticism from some quarters closer to home.

Communities across the country have complained of being overwhelmed by the influx while her own popularity ratings and support for her conservative party has suffered, although her Christian Democratic Union remains the strongest party by some distance.

Alarmingly the new anti-immigration party, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has seen its rankings in polls rise steeply and now amasses around 10 percent of the electorate’s support.

Earlier in December in the city of Leipzig an anti-immigration rally turned violent when the police fired tear gas and water cannons against the left-wing protesters who set fire to trash dumpsters and wooden barricades in order to block a neo-Nazi march.

Amid heightened tensions Merkel said that she wanted to "drastically decrease" the number of refugees coming to Germany earlier this month, signaling a compromise to her critics.

VIDEO: From the South - Massive Flow of Migrants Reaching Europe