German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an impassioned speech Thursday that migration could be a "make or break" issue for the European Union,. She spoke ahead of a critical EU summit. According to CNN, she pressed the German parliament to back a tough but humane asylum and migration policy for the European Union, warning that if Germany fails to support that, migration issues could define Europe's destiny. The crunch point comes at a time when Europe is already dealing with a lingering debt crisis, a rise in European populism, an escalating trade war with the United States, questions over the United States' commitment to NATO and faltering negotiations for Brexit.