Voters in three federal German states go to the polls on Sunday in elections that are shaping up to be a confidence vote in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy. Tension is rising in her party, the CDU.

The chancellor has promised to find a European solution to the refugee crisis.

But despite progress at the special summit with Turkey, a truly common and pan-European approach still appears to be a distant dream.

Merkel is running out of time: she cannot ask voters to "wait until the next EU summit" for ever. The flow of refugees to Germany has been reduced to a trickle but it seems that that is not enough for many voters.

Pollsters are forecasting huge gains for far-right and anti-immigration parties.

State elections in Germany: D-Day for Chancellor Merkel?

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Our guests:

Dilek Kurban is the Marie Curie Fellow at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and a member of the European Commission’s Network of Independent Experts. She is the Turkey expert in the Network's Non-Discrimination group. She is also a columnist for the Turkish daily newspaper Milliyet. She thinks: “Conceding to an illiberal regime for fear of domestic political backlash should not be Merkel’s 'European solution' to the refugee crisis”

Derek Scally is the Berlin correspondent of the "Irish Times". He believes: “Merkel won't be rewarded on Sunday for her refugee policies -- and perhaps the first serious cracks will become apparent. But, for want of an alternative, the CDU will not demolish their leader."

Wolfgang Merkel is a political scientist. He is the director of the "Democracy and Democratization" research unit at the Berlin Social Science Center. He says, "Chancellor Merkel's failure to co-ordinate her efforts has squandered European political capital, and has contributed to the rise of a German political party that is both right-wing and populist. The parties in the governing coalition will pay a price for this in the state elections on Sunday."