Berlin: She was called “the leader of the free world” because authoritarian populists were on the march in Europe and the United States, but Angela Merkel Completing a historic 16 years in power with an uncertain legacy at home and abroad.
In office so long she has been dubbed Germany’s “eternal chancellor”, the 67-year-old left Merkel so flexible with her popularity that she might have won a record fifth term.
Instead, Merkel would step down entirely by her own choice as the first German chancellor, an entire generation of voters never knowing any other person at the top.
His supporters say he provided steady, pragmatic leadership through countless global crises as a moderate and unified figure.
Yet critics argue that a messy style of leadership, pegged to the widest possible consensus, lacked the bold vision to prepare Europe and its top economy for decades to come.
It is certain that she has left behind a fragmented political landscape. It is also because of his long shadow that his party’s candidate, Armin Laschet, has struggled to sharpen his own profile.
His Social Democratic rival, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, has actively – and perhaps successfully – sold himself as a de facto continuation candidate.
Assuming she persists to hand over power, Merkel would tie or exceed Helmut Kohl’s longevity record for post-war leader, depending on how long ensuing coalition talks last. .
The volatile Merkel has in recent years served as a welcome counter-balance to the big, brash people of global politics, from Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin.
A Pew Research Center poll this week shows a large majority in most democracies around the world with “belief in Merkel to do the right thing in world affairs.”
However, even in the final days of her term, Merkel called the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan a “bitter, dramatic and terrifying” return to power – a debacle she shares blame as Germany completed its evacuation.
A trained quantum chemist who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, Merkel has long been aligning with her anti-change voters as a guarantor of stability.
Her major policy changes reflected the wishes of the large German majority – among them an end to nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster – and attracted a broad new coalition of women and urban voters to the once hard-conservative CDU.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, her boldest move – keeping German borders open to more than a million asylum seekers in 2015 – was set to live up to her legacy.
But while many Germans rallied for Merkel’s “We Can Do It” slogan, the move marked the beginning of a far-right bloc in parliament for the first time since World War II by an anti-diaspora party, the Alternative for Germany ( AfD) was also encouraged.
At the same time, radical leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán with their welcoming stance accused him of “moral imperialism”.
Six years later, she lamented this month, the EU looks no closer to a unified policy on migration.
The woman, once known as “Climate Chancellor” for promoting renewable energy, also faced a massive movement of youth activists, arguing that she had failed to cope with the climate emergency, Germany. has also not met its emissions-reduction commitments.
Merkel became Europe’s leader during the Eurozone crisis when Berlin drastically cut spending for debt-ridden countries in exchange for international bailout loans.
Angry protesters dubbed her the “austerity queen” of Europe and mocked her in Nazi garb, while defenders credited her with holding the currency union together.
Recently, Germany’s death toll has been lower relative to population than many European partners, despite acknowledged missteps in the coronavirus pandemic, including slow vaccine roll-outs.
The most senior leader of the European Union and the G7, Merkel started out as a contemporary of George W. Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac when she became Germany’s youngest and first female chancellor in 2005.
She was born Angela Dorothea Kasner, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and a schoolteacher, in the port city of Hamburg on July 17, 1954.
Her father moved the family to a small town parish in the Communist East, when thousands of people were moving to the other side.
She excelled in mathematics and Russian, which helped her maintain communication on the world stage with other veteran Russians Putin, who was a KGB officer in Dresden when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
Merkel named her first husband, whom she married in 1977 and divorced five years later.
After the Wall fell, Merkel, who was working in a chemistry lab, joined a pro-democracy group that would merge with Kohl’s Christian Democrats.
The Protestants of the former, whom Kohl nicknamed his “girl”, would later be elected leader of a party, as long as it was not dominated by Western Catholic patriarchs.
As soon as she came to power, party rivals called her “mutti” (mummy) behind their backs, but she deftly – some said ruthlessly – eliminated potential challengers.
Although her name has appeared on wish lists for key EU or UN positions, Merkel has said she will leave politics entirely.
When asked about her final visit to Washington in June what she wants most, she replied “there is no need to make frequent decisions”.
In office so long she has been dubbed Germany’s “eternal chancellor”, the 67-year-old left Merkel so flexible with her popularity that she might have won a record fifth term.
Instead, Merkel would step down entirely by her own choice as the first German chancellor, an entire generation of voters never knowing any other person at the top.
His supporters say he provided steady, pragmatic leadership through countless global crises as a moderate and unified figure.
Yet critics argue that a messy style of leadership, pegged to the widest possible consensus, lacked the bold vision to prepare Europe and its top economy for decades to come.
It is certain that she has left behind a fragmented political landscape. It is also because of his long shadow that his party’s candidate, Armin Laschet, has struggled to sharpen his own profile.
His Social Democratic rival, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, has actively – and perhaps successfully – sold himself as a de facto continuation candidate.
Assuming she persists to hand over power, Merkel would tie or exceed Helmut Kohl’s longevity record for post-war leader, depending on how long ensuing coalition talks last. .
The volatile Merkel has in recent years served as a welcome counter-balance to the big, brash people of global politics, from Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin.
A Pew Research Center poll this week shows a large majority in most democracies around the world with “belief in Merkel to do the right thing in world affairs.”
However, even in the final days of her term, Merkel called the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan a “bitter, dramatic and terrifying” return to power – a debacle she shares blame as Germany completed its evacuation.
A trained quantum chemist who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, Merkel has long been aligning with her anti-change voters as a guarantor of stability.
Her major policy changes reflected the wishes of the large German majority – among them an end to nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster – and attracted a broad new coalition of women and urban voters to the once hard-conservative CDU.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, her boldest move – keeping German borders open to more than a million asylum seekers in 2015 – was set to live up to her legacy.
But while many Germans rallied for Merkel’s “We Can Do It” slogan, the move marked the beginning of a far-right bloc in parliament for the first time since World War II by an anti-diaspora party, the Alternative for Germany ( AfD) was also encouraged.
At the same time, radical leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán with their welcoming stance accused him of “moral imperialism”.
Six years later, she lamented this month, the EU looks no closer to a unified policy on migration.
The woman, once known as “Climate Chancellor” for promoting renewable energy, also faced a massive movement of youth activists, arguing that she had failed to cope with the climate emergency, Germany. has also not met its emissions-reduction commitments.
Merkel became Europe’s leader during the Eurozone crisis when Berlin drastically cut spending for debt-ridden countries in exchange for international bailout loans.
Angry protesters dubbed her the “austerity queen” of Europe and mocked her in Nazi garb, while defenders credited her with holding the currency union together.
Recently, Germany’s death toll has been lower relative to population than many European partners, despite acknowledged missteps in the coronavirus pandemic, including slow vaccine roll-outs.
The most senior leader of the European Union and the G7, Merkel started out as a contemporary of George W. Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac when she became Germany’s youngest and first female chancellor in 2005.
She was born Angela Dorothea Kasner, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and a schoolteacher, in the port city of Hamburg on July 17, 1954.
Her father moved the family to a small town parish in the Communist East, when thousands of people were moving to the other side.
She excelled in mathematics and Russian, which helped her maintain communication on the world stage with other veteran Russians Putin, who was a KGB officer in Dresden when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
Merkel named her first husband, whom she married in 1977 and divorced five years later.
After the Wall fell, Merkel, who was working in a chemistry lab, joined a pro-democracy group that would merge with Kohl’s Christian Democrats.
The Protestants of the former, whom Kohl nicknamed his “girl”, would later be elected leader of a party, as long as it was not dominated by Western Catholic patriarchs.
As soon as she came to power, party rivals called her “mutti” (mummy) behind their backs, but she deftly – some said ruthlessly – eliminated potential challengers.
Although her name has appeared on wish lists for key EU or UN positions, Merkel has said she will leave politics entirely.
When asked about her final visit to Washington in June what she wants most, she replied “there is no need to make frequent decisions”.
.