The New York Times on Monday took a swipe at critics of the huge influx of Middle Eastern refugees into Europe, calling the continent’s biggest champion of such policies a great defender of “democratic values and freedoms.”

The Times offered the description — in a news story, not an opinion column — in a matter-of-fact manner in an article about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s difficulty forming a coalition government after her party lost seats in national elections in September.

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The newspaper reported that Merkel is leaning toward holding snap elections rather than trying to lead a minority government. It characterized Merkel this way: “The uncertainty raised new doubts about the political longevity of Ms. Merkel, considered perhaps the West’s most ardent defender of democratic values and freedoms.”

It is difficult to interpret that any other way than as a reference to Merkel’s strong and vocal support for Europe’s opening its doors to millions of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war. Germany alone has processed more than 1.3 million asylum applications since 2015. That policy, in fact, was a key issue in the German election and the primary reason Merkel now is having trouble putting together a government to continue her 12-year reign.

Related: Merkel Defiant: No Regrets About Refugee Crisis

Kyle Shideler, director of the Center for Security Policy’s threat assessment office, said it is hard to think of another issue where Merkel has set herself apart from her peers in the West.

“Frankly, it’s a little bit silly,” he said.

Shideler said that when he thinks of the great defenders of Western values and democratic freedoms, figures like former President Ronald Reagan, former Pope John Paul II, and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher come to mind.

Many would argue that such a dramatic increase in refugees from nondemocratic countries actually undermined democratic values and freedoms.

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“Merkel doesn’t really rise to that level unless it is almost exclusively based on open immigration,” he said.

Many would argue that such a dramatic increase in refugees from nondemocratic countries actually undermined democratic values and freedoms. On New Year’s Eve 2016, 2,000 men, almost all of them recent migrants, harassed, groped and raped German women at outdoor celebrations in several different cities, including Hamburg and Cologne.

“She has imported the death of democracy to her country,” said Christopher C. Hull, executive vice president of the Center for Security Policy.

Shideler said Merkel has a troubling record on other aspect of democratic freedoms.

“She’s also presided over a Germany which increasingly has targeted the free speech of its citizens,” he said.

Last month, for instance, a new law took effect that allows for heavy fines against social media firms for so-called hate speech.

The BBC reported that this law has drawn concern from the United Nations — not typically considered an ardent defender of Western values or democratic norms.

“With these 24-hour and seven-day deadlines — if you are a company you are going to want to avoid fines and bad public branding of your platform,” the British network quoted David Kaye, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression. “If there is a complaint about a post, you are just going to take it down. What is in it for you to leave it up? I think the result is likely to be greater censorship.”

An English-language website called The Local reported that Merkel bowed to pressure from Turkey’s autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and authorized prosecution — under a law forbidding insults against representatives of foreign states — of German satirist Jan Böhmermann for a poem poking fun at him. Prosecutors later dropped the case due to lack of evidence.

Related: Far-Right German Party Gains Historic Electoral Ground

The Times itself reported in June that German police raided the homes of 36 people accused of hateful postings on social media, encompassing threats, coercion, and incitement to racism.

Hull pointed to Michael Stürzenberger, a journalist who received a suspended six-month prison sentence earlier this year for violating a German law against “spreading propaganda of unconstitutional organizations.” Stürzenberger contends his offense was to post an article on Facebook comparing Islamists to Nazis.

“Angela Merkel has been systematically clamping down on speech in Germany that would be undermining her support and her policies,” Hull said. “It applies to people who are opposed to her migrant policies.”

(photo credit, homepage image: Angela Merkel, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, by Tobias Koch; photo credit, article image: Angela Merkel Advertises in Hamburg for More Voter Turnout, CC BY 2.0, by www.GlynLowe.com)