German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday her coalition government would survive a row over the future of the domestic intelligence chief following his comments on the hounding of migrants by far-right activists in the eastern city of Chemnitz. Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the BfV domestic intelligence agency, has faced calls to step down after he cast doubt on the authenticity of video footage showing the far-right protesters chasing the migrants after the fatal stabbing of a German man. Merkel’s junior coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), want conservative Interior Minister Horst Seehofer to fire Maassen over his remarks, but he has refused to do so, raising concerns that it could scupper the government. Published in Daily Times, September 15th 2018.