BRUSSELS -
Standing ovation from EU leaders
at the end of a brief informal ceremony organized by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel,
to greet the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel
, and the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, at their latest summit.
EU sources report this.
In the farewell ceremony to Angela Merkel, at the summit of EU leaders, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, compared the chancellor to a "monument". And in proposing comparisons, Michel said:
"the European Council without Angela is like Rome without the Vatican
, or Paris without the Eiffel Tower. Its wisdom will be lacking especially in complex moments". EU sources report this. Michel then highlighted three characteristics of the German leader: "scientific, intellectual curiosity and simplicity".
The President of the European Council also surprised
Merkel and Loefven with a short video of memories
, also giving them an artistic impression of the Europa building, the building where the summits of the leaders are held, customized for each of the two, report the same European sources. According to what is also recalled,
of the 214 summits of overall leaders in the history of the European Council, Merkel participated in 107.
Even
Silvio Berlusconi
paid tribute to the outgoing German chancellor with a
lucky charm antique
, which has given him during their meeting yesterday before the Summit of EPP. It was a piece from the collection of the Forza Italia leader, who had bought it ten years ago from a well-known antique dealer and on this occasion he wanted to deprive himself of it to give it to Merkel, with the hope that it will bring him luck for the rest of his career. The Chancellor welcomed the tribute with a smile, accompanied by a note, as seen in a photo posted on Twitter by the Italian senator Licia Ronzulli, who accompanied the former prime minister to the appointment together with the national coordinator of the party, Antonio Tajani .
Former US president
Barack Obama
also joins European and world leaders in paying tribute to German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of her latest EU summit.
"Thanks to you
- says in a video message posted on Twitter by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel -,
the world has withstood many storms.
Many people, girls and boys, men and women, have a role model to follow. in difficult times. I know because I'm one of them. "