EUROPE STILL NEEDS MERKEL AS SHE PREPARES TO LEAVE STAGE
WHAT we learn from history is that no one learns from history, said the original ‘Iron Chancellor’ Otto von Bismarck. Angela Merkel, the most successful European politician for more than a decade, seems set to prove him right. At 64, and in her fourth period as Chancellor, Ms Merkel has signalled she will step aside in 2021.
Yet once a politician signals their intention to step aside they are as good as gone, something she ought to have known.
It is far from certain the woman once anointed as the most powerful political leader in the world by ‘Time’ magazine will have the final say on when she vacates the stage. Nonetheless, her influence and reach should not be underestimated.
She has driven the agenda on the continent for more than a decade. Some would argue it was Ms Merkel’s vision for Europe that paved the way for David Cameron’s departure and got the Brexit bandwagon rolling.
She was certainly unyielding in her dealings with the former UK prime minister: “There are things that are non-negotiable. That there are achievements of European integration that cannot be haggled over, for example the principle of free movement and the principle of non-discrimination.”
When there were rumblings across the continent about opening the door to migrants she stood firm. Even when it became a contentious issue in Germany, she refused to budge saying: “We had done too little in the past, that is why we took in refugees – because it was the right thing to do.” She was the go-to leader in Europe. It fell to her to speak to President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate tensions over Crimea.
It was also Ms Merkel who rallied other EU leaders to take on more global responsibility as President Donald Trump threatened a trade war. “We have the great duty and the big task of making this Europe a strong factor in the world, to ensure prosperity, peace and freedom,” she stressed.
But divisions are deep within her CDU party and a number of electoral setbacks have made the once-invincible “Mutti” vulnerable. In the past year she has not been the forceful presence of the past. She hopes party chair Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will succeed her, but there is no guarantee.
Her coalition government is disintegrating, with the Social Democrats under pressure to pull the party out of government. It is felt yesterday’s announcement was an effort to calm growing panic. “I was not born chancellor,” Ms Merkel said yesterday. Nor indeed was she; but her sober and shrewd stewardship will be more vital than ever in the coming months as Brexit draws close.
Her sober and shrewd stewardship will be more vital than ever as Brexit draws close