In a crisis, every country needs a Merkel

Merkel at the front centre, as she has been in global politics for nearly 15 years (Image: Express & Star)

By the end of next year, Angela Merkel will no longer be Chancellor of Germany, and I'll be one of many who will be genuinely sad to see her go. In 15 years as the biggest cheese in European politics, Merkel has almost single-handedly taken over the role as Leader of the Free World, which I argued was up for grabs in 2018. It is difficult to deny her influence on the world stage and by her departing from it, will leave a big hole in global politics.

Merkel has been Chancellor since 2005 and led her Party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to four general elections wins (federal elections, as they're called in Germany). Certainly, she had to rely on other parties to form a majority government, but it was always 'Mutti', as she is affectionately known (translated, 'mummy'), who would wear the trousers.

Merkel is often trusted to lead the way on the biggest issues. Since 2005, every time there has been a global crisis, it is Merkel that has to step up when other leaders wouldn't. Whether it was during the European recovery of the economic crisis of 2008-10, the civil war in Syria, Brexit or the current coronavirus pandemic, when you hear Merkel speak, you know things will be okay.

Of course, during the process, Merkel and Germany have made rather unpopular decisions. When the global markets crashed, it hit Europe hard, particularly Greece who needed significant funds from the European Union in order to survive. It may not have gone down well by Eurosceptics, who thought the EU paid too much to Greece, as well as Greek ministers, who felt they didn't get enough money, nobody else other than Merkel was going to step up to the plate and helped a country on its knees. Germany leading the way wasn't welcomed with open arms, but it is plausible to say that Greece were saved because of that sacrifice.

With former Greek PM Alexis Tsipras (Image: Business Insider)

When it came to the Middle East uprising (Arab Spring), followed by Syria's never-ending civil war, Germany started off quietly and offered little direct military intervention when other countries like the UK went above and beyond but to little effect. However, when Syrians decided to flee their homes, they initially had nowhere to refuge. Italy couldn't cope with the number of migrants coming from the Mediterranean and UK would only commit to welcoming 20,000 Syrian refugees in the space of five years. Germany, much to the horror of many, opened their borders to nearly one million refugees in 2015. Again, no country wanted to help members of the global community in need, yet Merkel thought otherwise, even if it did dent her image after anti-immigration protestors made a big song and dance about it.

Fast forward to now and coronavirus (Covid-19) isn't showing any signs of going away anytime soon. Since December 2019, this virus has killed more than 200,000 people globally (as at 26th April 2020). Most countries are in complete lockdown and in my mind, the countries that have managed the best are down to two key factors; societal reaction and government action. It is fair to say the British and French governments acted late, Italy and Spain have struggled from the start due to public and political unrest, while US has Donald Trump as its President - you can sense the surprise on my face to discover the death rate there is by far the worse globally.

You only have look at the likes of South Korea, Russia and Germany as countries who have handled this crisis the best. The World Health Organization (WHO) said from the very start that the best way to combat coronavirus is by testing as many people as possible. This wasn't a problem for Merkel as so far more than two million Germans have been tested - only US and Russia have tested more people (as at 26th April 2020), though their populations are much higher. Without Merkel's careful and level-headed planning, Germany would have a lot more than 6,000 recorded deaths right now, considering that Spain, UK, France and Italy have a combined death toll of nearly 100,000. In fact, it is going so well in Germany, the country's top flight football division, Bundesliga, looks set to return as early as 9th May.

Merkel and Macron (Image: EUobserver)

I'm not saying that Merkel is the best leader ever. To be frank, I know very little about her domestic politics, apart from that she is tight when it comes to public spending. And I cannot dismiss the fact that her global policies have led to a political divide at home, as Germany has seen with the surge of votes for the 'left-wing' Greens and 'far-right' AfD in recent years. It is true that a great leader needs to finely balance between being a good leader at home and abroad - only history will determine Merkel's fate.


So, who is likely to succeed Merkel as leader of the CDU and thus run for Chancellor next year? She did have someone in mind - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, nicknamed AKK - but due to an apparent rebellion from a local party group who joined forces with AfD, against AKK's wishes, she lost that authority and therefore felt she had no choice but to step aside. For party leader, at the very least, CDU members will choose between Armin Laschet, Friedrich Merz and Norbert Rottgen. With the other parties breathing down their party's neck, with another year to go until the next federal election, they haven't got much time to make their mark.

From a foreigner's perspective, none of those three names spring out as figures who can burst onto the global scene. They will struggle to make their mark the way Merkel has, and I don't see any party leader in Germany being a force of nature in the same way as we have seen successors from other countries be. For example, in France, you could tell Emmanuel Macron was going to be a big figure in European politics as the election he won in 2017 was highly publicised and his personality was much larger than that of his predecessor, Francois Hollande. And many of us relatively avid political followers will have at least heard of Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac. I had to research who the last Chancellor of Germany was, and when the name 'Gerhard Schroder' came up, it didn't shout to me as a big name in global politics, not compared to Merkel anyhow.

In a world where influential politicians meet and make bold decisions on the environment, the military and so on, you need a table full of people who get along and have a shared vision of creating a better planet Earth. Merkel has done that throughout her time as Chancellor, and in doing so has the respect of leaders everywhere - that is a legacy she should be proud of.