Expert on German political crisis amidst EU tensions

The following University of Victoria expert is available to media to discuss implications of the ongoing immigration backlash in Europe in the context of the current European Union summit and possible political repercussions for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition government:

Oliver Schmidtke (Departments of Political Science and History) is the director of UVic’s Centre for Global Studies and an expert in European politics and in particular the politics of migration. He has also taken a lead role over the past 15 years in promoting European studies in Canada, including at UVic. Schmidtke can comment on various aspects of European integration—a particular research specialty of his—from the perspective of the political crisis in the EU and the threat to Merkel’s government from her party’s Bavarian allies. (Office: 250-472-4726 or by email at ofs@uvic.ca)