EUOBSERVER - Local authorities in Bavaria, Germany, could start turning back migrants on Monday (18 June) in a rebellion that threatens chancellor Angela Merkel's authority.

That was the upshot of crisis talks on Thursday between Merkel's centre-right CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU (Christian Social Union), who had previously stuck together since 1949.

The Bavarian 'president', the CSU's Horst Seehofer, has said he has the authority to do it without her approval in his role as German interior minister.

He says people without IDs, or people who traversed another EU state to get to Germany, had no right to claim asylum there under EU law, which says the first point of entry into Europe is responsible for their care.

"Asylum tourism must end. Germany cannot wait endlessly for Europe, but must act independently," Markus Soeder, the CSU's Bavarian 'prime minister', said on Thursday.

Merkel "cannot prevent us from acting right now and doing what we are allowed to do legally," he added.

Alexander Dobrindt, the CSU's co-chair said: "We have a very serious situation on our hands. Some are calling it a historic situation. We aren't budging on our position."

Merkel urged them to hold off until EU leaders meet in Brussels on 28 June.

"I personally think illegal migration is one of the big challenges for the European Union, so I don't believe we should act unilaterally, we should not act in an uncoordinated way and we should not act at the expense of third parties," she said on Thursday, referring to the extra pressure that the CSU plan would put on frontline states Greece and Italy.

"I expect that we [the EU] will all do it together, the federal government included", she said.

The June summit is unlikely to see a breakthrough on EU asylum reform, however, with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia opposed to migrant-sharing.

The German population is also losing patience - 62 percent of Germans backed the CSU idea in a poll by German TV station ARD on Thursday, while 37 percent endorsed Merkel's approach.

'Merkel completely alone!' Germany's top tabloid, Bild, said in a headline the same day, highlighting the fact that several CDU members were also unhappy with the status quo.

If Seehofer goes ahead on Monday, that would leave Merkel with two choices, both of which could spell the end of her 13-year rule.

She could call a vote of confidence in herself in the Bundestag, risking a defeat and subsequent resignation, or she could sack Seehofer, destroying the CDU/CSU alliance and her parliamentary majority.

The CDU/CSU and their centre-left coalition partners, the SPD, hold 399 seats in the 709-seat Bundestag, but the CSU accounts for 46 of those, with its departure set to trigger general elections

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