Portuguese here, yes we most definitely are. It’s been of the arguments to support immigration by the previous government since they usually are always net contributors to Segurança Social (Social Security).
It's not because a politician say something that it's true, you should know better ;).
The reason why governments promote immigration is because they want to increase the workforce (and in the case of Portugal, replace all the emigrants from Portugal). As the population is aging, if you want to keep cheap labor you need new arms to work, no matter who pays for the pensions.
If you have pension funds that invest on the global financial market, then pensions are being paid by workers worldwide through the companies profits. So the amount of money you get for pension can remain or even increase even if your national population collapses.
But the supply of workers needed to provide the basic goods your aging population needs (including healthcare) shrinks and if you don't accept immigrants you end up with labor shortage (Or you raise the salaries for these jobs, but then the rest of your economy disappears because there's no one working there anymore).
She desperately wanted to avoid "bad scenes" at German borders.
IDK if the book of journalist Robin Alexander "Die Getriebenen" (the driven ones, meaning top German politicians driven by events) was ever translated to English, but that guy had daily access to the Chancellory and describes the situation to a T.
Merkel built her career on media appeasement and an illusion that Germany is in such good hands that nothing untoward can happen to it. It sort-of worked until 2015, when the outside world could not be kept at bay anymore.
Angela Merkel built her career in the GDR under Soviet rule, in case this fact or the eviction of hundreds of thousands of families from their homes in Germany to house those immigrants is of interest to you.
I think she actually did, that and her Christian beliefs. Not all of politics is cynical, sometimes politicians are selfish and unreasonable and act on their principles. There were more fiscally prudent ways for Germany to increase its population for various political and economic ends if Merkel so chose to use them.
Even if the will to have younger blood to fuel the economy is a driver for such a move, it has nothing to do with propping up pensions: in an aging population you'll need people working in your country if you want to keep things running, no matter how your pensions are being paid…
