Angela Merkel’s reign has come to an end after 16 years in office as the German chancellor. During her presidency, Merkel became known as one of the most powerful and influential women on the international stage with an authentic, cautious, and pragmatic style of governing. She has been a symbol of stability and continuity in the European political landscape throughout international and domestic crises. In doing so, she earned the Forbes title of “most powerful woman in the world” every year for a decade.

Trained as a quantum chemist, Merkel worked at a state-run research center until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which produced a “maelstrom in German politics… café conversations became street protests; movements became political parties; individuals tried to take control of their country for the first time.” It was during this democratic awakening that Merkel decided to enter the world of politics. Surprisingly, the East German woman joined the overwhelmingly male-dominated Christian Democrats (CDU) and started slowly moving up the ranks until she became chair of the CDU in 2000 and Germany’s first woman chancellor in 2005. 

As Germany contemplates the post-Merkel era – known as the Merkeldämmerung or the “twilight of Merkel” – analyzing her legacy is a complicated undertaking. At home, her legacy includes abolishing compulsory military service; phasing out nuclear energy; legalizing dual citizenship; adopting marriage equality; implementing a gender quota on corporate boards, and instituting a minimum wage. She is regarded as a “politically invincible force that helped shape the politics and economy of her country as well as the direction of the European Union.” Yet, despite initially cultivating an uncontroversial image, Merkel has become a deeply polarizing figure nationally and internationally. 

The Eurozone Crisis

The beginning of Merkel’s term was largely characterized by the eurozone crisis, which prompted an ongoing period of instability and Euroscepticism throughout Europe. As the nation with the strongest economy in the EU, Germany reluctantly led the recovery. Merkel became the “symbol of fiscal austerity, prescribing sweeping budget cuts and tight supervision as the cure for southern Europe’s chronic debts.”

Critics believe that Merkel’s initial reluctance to resort to bailouts “weakened the eurozone’s credibility” and that she was too slow to grasp the threat to the eurozone. For too long, the discourse in Germany around the crisis was that reckless governments in the European periphery were highly irresponsible during the economic boom and that bailouts were not an acceptable solution. In reality, the government deficits of Ireland and Spain were routinely below those of Germany. This moral hazard narrative punished the European project for the actions of the Greek economy, which accounted for a small percent of the overall EU economic structure. However, Merkel’s attitude to austerity eventually softened, as she had to mitigate the risk of economic and social chaos. She supported Mario Draghi to lead the European Central Bank instead of a conservative northern European candidate, which “reflected her growing awareness that she must act for the EU and not simply Germany.”

The Migrant Crisis

Merkel faced her biggest challenge when Europe was met with the gravest refugee crisis since World War II. She kept her word that Germany would “lead the way in coping with the 2015 to 2016 surge in migrants by welcoming more than one million desperate people into her country” and temporarily suspending an EU rule requiring asylum seekers to register in the first member state they entered. Justifying her decision by holding true to the values that underpin the European project, she said that “if we had not shown a friendly face, that’s not my country.” Times magazine dubbed her the “Chancellor of the free world” for embracing thousands of asylum seekers and showing that a crisis could be met with compassion. 

However, this was a controversial decision that polarized her public opinion both domestically and internationally. While liberals around the globe consider her a saint who opened the borders to those in need, the right believes that Merkel undermined EU security. Her decision hurt her approval ratings at home, and some EU officials blamed her government for “forcing a plan to distribute migrants around the bloc via quotas, in a deeply divisive qualified-majority vote in 2015.” To combat the backlash, Merkel tightened asylum rules and cut a controversial EU-Turkey migration deal. Since then, right-wing populism in Europe has significantly increased and the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AFD) capitalized on the rising tide of populism and xenophobia in Europe.

The Crisis of Democracy

 Elsewhere in the world, appeals to nationalism fueled Brexit in the UK and propelled Donald Trump to the presidency in the US. For Angela Merkel, 2016 was “another dramatic year that put her centre stage in global affairs and left her facing calls to take over outgoing US President Barack Obama’s mantle as the leader of the western world.” Merkel was widely praised for standing up for democracy and the rule of law in response to the rise of nationalism in the West. Reuters dubbed Merkel as the new “senior leader anchoring a Western alliance” and the New York Times called her “the Liberal West’s Last Defender.” 

 In the wake of Brexit and the populist rhetoric of the ‘Leave’ campaign, Merkel said that there would be no “cherry-picking by Britain of its post-EU future,” words that defined the EU’s approach to the next four years of Brexit negotiations. In fact, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s proposal to access the single market with limited migration in 2016 was rebuffed by Merkel, who said that the UK could only enjoy access to the single market if it accepted the four basic and indivisible European freedoms of goods, services, capital, and people.

 While she retaliated against the US and UK, some argue that she failed to confront the Hungarian authoritarian in her midst. Daniela Schwarzer, executive director for Europe at the Open Society Foundations, said that “she definitely could have acted much earlier and really used her position of political clout and the power of the large country” and pointed out that German companies have a prominent position in Hungary as investors and employers.

Yet Merkel pledged to “carry on the fight for liberal democracy, free trade, and open societies even as rightwing populists are heading in a different direction”. On the 31st anniversary ceremony of German reunification, Merkel stated that the world is “experiencing attacks on such high goods as freedom of the press… we are experiencing a public sphere in which demagogic lies and disinformation are used to stir up resentment and hatred.” Furthermore, Merkel warned that democratic achievements are sometimes taken for granted. She cautioned that democracy is something “we have to work for together, again and again, every day,” and that countries around the world face a choice between “turning on themselves or defending the values of democracy and engaging with international partners.”

The Next German Chancellor and the Russia-Ukraine Crisis

After dominating Germany for so long, Merkel leaves a “legacy of sober, patient leadership, in which she both articulated and modeled democratic values.” Germany’s government acknowledges that the next Chancellor faces “a complex task.” The former German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz officially succeeded Merkel on November 24, 2021 and has some big shoes to fill. Shortly after taking office, he is already facing one of the biggest European security threats since World War II. 

In response to Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, Mr. Scholz halted approval of Nord Stream 2 (NS2) as part of the sanctions against the Kremlin. Halting NS2 was a difficult decision, as it will impact Germany and the rest of the European bloc. The Chancellor announced on February 27 that Germany will construct two LNG terminals, pledging to protect Germany’s energy supply. European Parliament Member Reinhard Bütikofer called these developments a “turning point” in Germany’s relationship with Russia, and [they] signify Germany’s new willingness to “effectively reduce [its] gas dependency on Russia, and that’s a momentous change.” 

Moreover, Chancellor Scholz recently declared that Germany will “allocate 100 billion euros for its armed forces” as it looks to increase defense spending in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  Delivering a statement at a special parliament session on February 27, Mr. Sholz said “it’s clear that we need to invest more in the security of our country in order to protect our freedom and democracy… [Putin] wants to change Europe according to his imagination.” This was another important decision made by Sholz, as Germany has long resisted international pressure to raise its defense spending to 2% of economic output due to its 20th-century history. 

The war in Ukraine is developing rapidly and the European community must respond with strong, unified action. The world is looking to EU leaders to defend democracy and punish the Kremlin’s violations of international law. Scholz reiterated the EU’s decision to remove Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system and other punitive measures to target “Putin and the people around him.” Germany also joined a growing band of nations in Europe closing its airspace to Russian planes. Chancellor Scholz is committed to supporting Ukraine, stating that “as democrats, as Europeans, we are on your side, the right side of history.” Just as Merkel’s leadership was tested by crisis during her presidency, Mr. Scholz must carefully maneuver the current European emergency to defend the future of democracy in Europe and the rest of the world.

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