German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged better protection at the European Union's external borders in order to maintain the passport-free Schengen zone.

Merkel is under increasing pressure to limit the influx of migrants after more than a million arrived in Germany last year.

A poll published this week showed popular support for Merkel had tumbled to a four-and-a-half-year low with more than 80 percent of Germans doubting her government had the refugee crisis under control.

"We need to protect our external borders because we want to keep Schengen," Merkel said in her weekly podcast.

Failing to protect the EU's external borders would jeopardize free movement of people which is the basis for the bloc's wealth, Merkel added.

Source: MENA