As the pressure rises on Angela Merkel to reverse course on her liberal refugee policy, many Germans have assumed it is a matter of when, not whether, she closes the border. Bavarian police have even begun making discreet preparations. By contrast, Mrs Merkel’s “Plan A”—a deal with Turkey to keep refugees from crossing to Greece and another deal with European Union partners to resettle some migrants from Turkey—seems moribund. What a surprise, then, to see Mrs Merkel’s interview with Anne Will, a talk-show host, on Sunday. “I don’t have a Plan B,” she said with fighting passion. It is “my damned duty” to find a common path for the EU, she added. For a chancellor notorious in the past for aligning herself with prevailing winds, this is strong stuff. So strong that a U-turn, were it to become necessary, is becoming harder for her to survive politically.