Washington Post (September 25)
“After dominating Germany and, indeed, Europe for so long, Ms. Merkel leaves a legacy of sober, patient leadership, in which she both articulated and modeled democratic values. This was especially important at times when the leaders of other Western nations… did not.” The impact of her departure will be widely felt as “the world’s need for strong champions and exemplars of democracy is greater than ever.”
Tags: Champions, Democracy, Democratic values, Dominating, Europe, Exemplars, Germany, Leadership, Legacy, Merkel, Need, Patient, Sober
New York Times (July 7)
Germany has fallen “back in love with Angela Merkel.” She has recovered from “crushing defeats in regional elections” in 2018. Successfully containing “the pandemic has burnished the chancellor’s reputation as one of the country’s best leaders.”
Tags: Burnished, Containing, Crushing, Defeats, Elections, Germany, Love, Merkel, Pandemic, Recovered, Successful
Wall Street Journal (February 12)
“In Germany, a Cold War deal to host U.S. nuclear weapons is now in question” as debate “flares up for the first time since the 1980s.” Chancellor Merkel’s coalition partners “are reconsidering their support for a decades old arrangement that puts Germany under the U.S. nuclear shield, a development that could further undermine the country’s already-tense relationship with the Trump administration.”
New York Times (October 31)
Angela Merkel “is doing the right thing in stepping down…. The best leaders are those who know when it’s time to exit.” But Europe will lose a “remarkable” leader who was “compassionate when hearts grew cold, committed to unity when others abandoned it.”
Tags: Compassionate, Europe, Exit, Germany, Heart, Leader, Merkel, Remarkable, Unity
The Economist (April 14)
“Germany is entering a new era. It is becoming more diverse, open, informal and hip.” As the Merkel era draws to a close, “many of the country’s defining traits—its ethnic and cultural homogeneity, conformist and conservative society, and unwillingness to punch its weight in international diplomacy—are suddenly in flux.”
Tags: Conformist, Conservative, Diverse, Era, Flux, Germany, Hip, Homogeneity, Informal, Merkel, Open, Traits
Financial Times (February 12)
“What happened in the UK in 2016 is now happening in Germany. A referendum is causing total havoc in the political system.” The members of the centre-left Social Democratic party must vote on whether to support the life sustaining coalition cobbled together by Angela Merkel. The party leadership does not appear to have a majority. “Even if there is a narrow vote in favour, it is hard to see how this coalition, and Ms Merkel, can last a full term.”
Bloomberg (November 20)
“After 12 years in office that have made her Europe’s anchor of stability in times of crisis, Merkel failed to stitch together an alliance that’s never been tried at the national level. While the breakdown leaves her in charge as acting chancellor, the collapse may signal the limit of her pragmatic, non-ideological style of governing and leaves her options for staying in power for another four years dramatically narrowed.”
Tags: Alliance, Breakdown, Chancellor, Collapse, Crisis, Europe, Germany, Governing, Merkel, Non-ideological, Pragmatic, Stability
The Economist (September 30)
“Who leads Europe? At the start of this year, the answer was obvious. Angela Merkel…. This week, it all looks very different.” Post election, Germany’s leader stands greatly reduced. In contrast, “France’s President Emmanuel Macron is bursting with ambition.” Whether he will be able to “restore France to centre-stage in the EU after a decade in the chorus depends not just on his plans for Europe, but also on his success at home, reforming a country long seen as unreformable.”
Deutsche Welle (September 25)
“Sunday’s federal election proved quite a storm for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. Now, a day after these remarkable results, the skies over Berlin’s River Spree are cloudy, drizzly, and unpleasant. The sunny days are over.” The inclement forecast is largely due to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which proved unexpectedly strong, landing a third place finish. The AfD won 94 of the Bundestag’s 709 seats. Their victory marks the first time for a right-wing party to be represented in the Bundestag since the Nazi defeat in 1945.
Tags: AfD, Berlin, Bundestag, Election, Government, Merkel, Nazis, Results, Right wing, Storm
Der Spiegel (May 29)
“Merkel has positioned herself more clearly than ever before as Europe’s defender in the face of the Trump challenge — a role that her SPD challenger Martin Schulz had been hoping to play. The SPD can do little more than agree with the chancellor. On Monday, Schulz tweeted ‘the best response to Donald Trump is a strong Europe’ — which is essentially exactly what Merkel said.”
