For a long time Germany was a hot topic in Italy - and the face of it was Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But at the turn of the year the wind turned completely.
Migration dispute or euro crisis: For a long time, large parts of
Italy
looked
at
Germany
with displeasure
.
That changed in the course of the
Corona year
.
The most important newspaper in the country
even
named
Chancellor Angela Merkel
one of the “Women of the Year 2020”.
The reason for the change in mood is quite clear.
Either way, the turnaround probably marks a pleasant normality.
Munich / Rome
- In itself it is wonderful news: Around 75 years after the Second World War there are
apparently no more hardened enemy images
in the
EU
.
Which neighboring country is popular or unpopular - it just depends on the current political climate.
The appropriate current example of diagnosis is
Italy
.
And Germany with
Chancellor Angela Merkel
(CDU).
For a long time, the Federal Republic was a nuisance for a large part of mainstream opinion in the country.
First the
euro crisis
, then the upheavals of the
first corona wave
, in which Germany
imposed
an
export
ban on goods urgently needed in Italy.
But the wind has turned fast and powerful: Italy's largest daily newspaper,
Corriere della Sera
, recently named Merkel one of the “Women of the Year”.
Angela Merkel suddenly “Woman of the Year” in Italy: Chancellor now savior of European democracy
In the associated article, the paper does not spare praise.
The Chancellor "changed Europe in the pandemic," it says.
In at least some of her
15 years as chancellor she was
the "greatest leader on the global stage".
According to the report, Merkel earned respect in Italy, among other things, for the German
strategy
for
coping with the corona crisis
- even if doubts about it recently increased.
Even more important, however, was obviously the inner-European crisis course.
Specifically, the EU rescue package worth billions.
Centodieci donne del 2020 - celebri o sconosciute, leader o simboli, innovatrici o resilienti, tutte speciali.
https://t.co/mLkO9O8ECg @Corriere
- beppe severgnini (@beppesevergnini) December 27, 2020
Germany “held the Europeans together and persuaded them to set up a massive reconstruction fund,” writes
Corriere della Sera
.
And - no half measures - so that "a solution to defend democracy across the continent" is achieved.
Angela Merkel: The image of Germany in Italy changed abruptly - “German hegemony” is no cause for concern
The leading medium does not stand alone with this view.
The
German Italy correspondent for
the
taz
, Michael Braun, reported that he had received orders from the Italian media for jubilant Merkel portraits.
A debate website had requested a text "that tells us that she is the only world-class leader far and wide".
Braun also quoted a comment from the newspaper
Il Foglio
in May.
Under the headline “Merkel and the miracle of Germany that has become well”, the paper judged that “German hegemony” was “a process that is not viewed with concern” for the first time in a long time.
Germany's image in Italy turns massively: Austria is now under criticism
Opinions that were only a few months ago seem almost forgotten.
Even if the
Corriere
admits that Merkel is neither flawless nor "a saint" - there was a completely different tone recently.
In April,
populist Matteo Salvini used
the mood and etched: "We don't get anything from Germany - except for two fingers to be pressed in our eyes." In a highly acclaimed video, the well-known actor Tullio Solenghi accused Germany of To act "cold-hearted" and "arrogant".
And in June
Giuseppe Conte
Merkel
warned
that he was the one who “kept the books” in Italy.
In the meantime, other alliances have solidified in the EU: Most recently, Germany,
France
and Italy
in particular have acted in
harmony.
Sometimes
Austria is
at a disadvantage, as it
almost toppled
the
EU Corona package
in the summer together with the “thrifty” northern countries.
Some people suspected a return coach in the dispute over skiing fun over Christmas.
It is possible that this picture will change again with the next major EU gossip, whether it is about migration or further monetary aid.
But that also speaks for a certain normality among friends:
Bavaria
and
Berlin,
for example, are sometimes in a clinch - and then pull together again.
And that even in the course of a single major
corona crisis
.
(
fn
)
At
Merkur.de
, experts also take
stock of Angela Merkel's political legacy
at the turn of the year
: assessments of the important future topics of
care
(with VdK President Verena Bentele and the care employers),
climate
(with voices from Fridays For Future and the DIW) and
pensions
(with contributions by the experts Peter Bofinger and Bernd Raffelhüschen) read under the respective links.