European leaders gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel a standing ovation on Friday (October 22nd) on the occasion of a summit in Brussels which should be her 107th and last after 16 years in power, AFP learned from a European source. .
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"
I hope you will not be upset by this ceremony for your last summit,
" Charles Michel, the President of the Council, told him.
The meetings of the Twenty-Seven "
without Angela, it's like Rome without the Vatican or Paris without the Eiffel Tower,
" he added, according to this European source.
“
Your farewell to the European scene affects us politically but also fills us with emotion.
You are a monument
”, continued Charles Michel, saluting“
the wisdom
”of the Chancellor who will be missed by Europeans,“
especially in difficult times
”.
A gift for the chancellor
The heads of state and government had previously praised the spirit of compromise of the German official on departure, such as the Austrian Alexander Schallenberg who described her as a "
peacemaker in the EU
" or the Luxembourgish Xavier Bettel, for whom she was "
a machine for compromise
".
For this last summit, where Poland was in the hot seat for its violations of the rule of law, the German made her mark again by pleading for dialogue with Warsaw.
European officials gave the Chancellor a gift representing the building where the European summits are being held.
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During his speech, Charles Michel also paid tribute to the Swede Stefan Löfven, who will leave his post of Prime Minister in November, which he had held since 2014. "
You have marked our meetings with your strong and reassuring presence
", declared Charles Michel to the latter, saluting his commitment to "
social progress
", according to the same source.
