Enlarge image
Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel with Angela Merkel
Photo:
POOL / REUTERS
An era is coming to an end - Chancellor Angela Merkel will probably be taking part in an EU summit for the last time. The heads of state and government of the other member states expressed their deep appreciation for Merkel on the second day of the meeting in Brussels. "This is someone who has really drawn Europe for 16 years," said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. Merkel is currently the longest serving EU negotiator. During her term of office, she has experienced more than a hundred summits with tough negotiations, night-long debates and probably also entertaining moments.
Merkel was often a stabilizing factor when it was difficult, praised the Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. Merkel intervened in particular during the heated negotiations in summer 2020 on the multi-year EU financial framework and the Corona rescue package to find a common solution. The Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg called Merkel a "haven of peace". "She was definitely a great European," he added.
"It is a great person who is going to leave us," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. But he also said: "Ms. Merkel was such a compromise machine." If the talks failed, Merkel always managed to find something to connect everyone. "Europe will miss them." Bettel made it clear that the next Federal Chancellor would follow in big footsteps. "I'm looking forward to working with the new government," said Bettel. Merkel, however, leaves a "very large gap".
Schallenberg hopes that the new federal government will quickly determine its course in European policy.
»What does Germany stand for?
We need to be clear about that very quickly, ”he said.
De Croo emphasized: "Of course we hope that we will have a new Chancellor who will take on the important role that Germany plays in Europe."
as / AFP / dpa
