Tag: Merkel

Merkel says Germany must fight for ‘our convictions’

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday said Germany must “stand fast, argue, and fight for our own convictions” and assume greater responsibilities at a time when multilateralism is coming under intense pressure. In her New Year’s address to Germans, Merkel said long-held certainties about international cooperation were being put to the test. Global challenges including climate change, immigration and the fight against terrorism could not be solved by countries going it alone, […]

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Merkel says planned exit won’t hurt her influence abroad

by Hui Min NEO Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she does not expect her global influence to be diminished in the run-up to her planned exit from politics in 2021, even as the race to succeed her gathers pace. Merkel said Monday she would not stand for re-election in December as leader of her center-right CDU party, but that she planned to see out her fourth term […]

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Merkel to step down as chancellor in 2021

by Jan DÖRNER / Christof MEISSNER Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Angela Merkel on Monday announced she will quit as German chancellor when her mandate ends in 2021, as she sought to curtail a series of political crises that have rocked her fragile coalition. Often described as the world’s most powerful woman and Europe’s de facto leader, Merkel said she hoped her planned departure would end fighting within her coalition and allow it […]

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Merkel government shaken by German regional vote battering

by Tom BARFIELD Agence France Presse FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government on Sunday suffered a beating in a second key regional election in as many weeks, multiplying questions over the future of the veteran leader’s fragile alliance. Weakened by a strong backlash against immigration after allowing over a million people into Germany since 2015, Merkel’s fourth government has staggered from one crisis to the next since being formed […]

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Merkel removes spy chief to defuse row over far-right

by Frank ZELLER and Michelle FITZPATRICK in Frankfurt Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Angela Merkel’s government on Tuesday removed domestic spy chief Hans-Georg Maassen from office, transferring him to a different post to end an explosive row over immigration and the far right that once more rocked the German chancellor’s fragile coalition. “Mr Maassen will become state secretary in the interior ministry,” Merkel and the leaders of her coalition parties announced in a […]

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Europe can no longer rely on US to ‘protect’ it: Merkel

AACHEN, Germany (AFP) — Europe can no longer rely on the United States to protect it, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday, urging the bloc to take its destiny in its own hands. “It is no longer such that the United States simply protects us, but Europe must take its destiny in its own hands, that’s the task of the future,” she said, after US President Donald Trump left traditional allies scrambling by ditching the […]

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Trump discusses China trade with Merkel, Macron: White House

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke with European leaders about working together to counter China’s alleged unfair trade practices, the White House said. The move comes as Washington and the European Union are at loggerheads over Trump’s decision earlier this month to slap steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “discussed joining forces to counter China’s unfair economic practices and illegal acquisition of intellectual […]

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Merkel narrowly elected to fourth term as German chancellor

  by Frank Zeller Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, bruised by half a year of post-election coalition haggling, was Wednesday narrowly confirmed by parliament to her fourth and likely final term at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy. Lawmakers in Berlin’s glass-domed Reichstag voted 364-315 with nine abstentions for Merkel, who was then formally appointed by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier before taking the oath of office. The outcome of the […]

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Merkel vows to work for the ‘good for Germany’ as SPD paves way for her fourth term

  by Hui Min Neo Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany — (AFP) Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday vowed to work with the Social Democrats for the “good of Germany”, after the centre-left party agreed to join her new coalition, but the veteran leader will go into her fourth term with weaker cards than before. Two in three of the SPD’s rank and file voting in a make or break referendum backed a new partnership with […]

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Merkel calls for end to ‘massacre’ in Syria

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called for an end to the “massacre” in Syria after fresh air strikes on a rebel-held enclave in the war-torn country killed another 13 people. Condemning the Syrian regime for targeting “its own people”, Merkel said: “The killing of children, the destruction of hospitals — all that amounts to a massacre that must be condemned and which must be countered with a clear no.” At […]

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Four months after vote, Merkel in final lap of coalition talks

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel will on Friday begin a final stretch of negotiations with Germany’s second biggest party to form a government, four months after an inconclusive election left the country in political limbo. Merkel will meet with Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz and the chief of her Bavarian allies, Horst Seehofer, at 0800 GMT, sources close to the talks told AFP. As Germany’s European partners are beginning to be weary over the long-running […]

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Germany seeks way out of crisis after govt talks collapse

by Frank ZELLER Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s president was to lead a push from Tuesday to save the EU’s top economy from the political turmoil sparked by the collapse of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition talks. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who takes centre stage because he can call snap elections, was to use his diplomatic skills as former foreign minister to persuade parties to return to the negotiating table. The head of state, who […]

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