Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition resolved a standoff over the intelligence chief, who was accused of being too sympathetic to the far right.
BERLIN — Leaders of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition reached a deal on Sunday to resolve a standoff over the future of the country’s intelligence chief, a dispute that has still further frayed their tenuous alliance.
The spy chief, Hans-Georg Maassen, was removed from his job last week at the insistence of the center-left Social Democrats after he appeared to play down recent violence against migrants. Critics suggested that Mr. Maassen was too sympathetic to the far right and that he might overlook its ties to neo-Nazi groups.
But with Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, a fellow conservative, in his corner, Mr. Maassen could not simply be shown the door. Instead, coalition leaders agreed to replace him as the intelligence chief but give him a new job as a deputy interior minister — a promotion with a hefty pay increase.
The Social Democrats were infuriated, and their leader, Andrea Nahles, called for the deal to be renegotiated.
On Sunday, coalition leaders agreed instead to make Mr. Maassen a “special adviser” at the interior ministry with responsibility for “European and international issues,” Mr. Seehofer said. He will remain at his current pay level.
In addition, a Social Democrat who held the post of deputy interior minister, Gunther Adler, will now keep his job rather than making way for Mr. Maassen.
Ms. Nahles will have to sell the new compromise to her party’s leadership on Monday.
„I think it is a very good signal that we took the criticism of our decision on Tuesday evening seriously and were able to correct it,” she told reporters. She declared that “overall, the foundation has been laid for us to return to substantive work.“
The dispute has clouded the government’s future at a time when the three parties face major challenges in state elections. The infighting appears to be weighing down their support.
A year ago in a national election, all three coalition parties lost ground to the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
The coalition has already been through one crisis that threatened its survival, when Ms. Merkel and Mr. Seehofer faced off in June over whether to turn back some migrants at the German-Austrian border.
Responding to violent right-wing protests against migrants in the eastern city of Chemnitz, Mr. Maassen said his agency had no reliable evidence that foreigners were being “hunted” down in the streets — the term Ms. Merkel had used.
A video posted by a left-wing group showed protesters chasing down and attacking a foreigner, but Mr. Maassen questioned its authenticity .
Mr. Seehofer said that Mr. Maassen was a “highly competent” employee and that he would not dismiss him. He accused the Social Democrats of running a “campaign” against Mr. Maassen.
