Project Europe is Angela Merkel’s to save, the writer says
As she was in the beginning (Angela Merkel)
What is the nitty gritty of what precisely is happening with the European Union — the Europe project — in these days? An answer to that puzzle is set out clearly, shortly and sweetly by Irishman Jason O’Mahony in a blog post today.
O’Mahony rests the matter of Europe’s future squarely on the shoulders of the remarkable Angela, the current Chancellor of Germany. Merkel faces a very clear choice between saving Europe or destroying Europe, O’Mahony argues. Check out what he has to say here.
My favorite part of the post, though, is this excerpt.
British eurosceptics constantly remark that the euro was a political project, as if that is a killer argument. It was. It was supposed to be, and whilst it is malfunctioning from bad design, the fact with European integration is that it has been the great success story of post-war Europe.
Differing views on a European woman in charge: Angela Merkel
The world as we know it still has need of strong leaders, be they perfect or most definitely not. For my part — though I’m often gloomily skeptical about the state of the world (Eeyore move over) — I take some comfort in seeing those few women leaders we have now calling the shots for good or ill here and there.
One of those few is here in Europe, the increasingly powerful German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Not everyone is happy with her and some are furious, judging by reports in the English language press I’m reading. Well, I’m not cheering wildly for so many of her moves either. My political preferences are a bit left of Chancellor Merkel’s.
But the gender factor in leadership in this case is at least some compensatory pleasure.
Those pros and cons
There’s always some opinion somewhere, though, predicting Merkel’s imminent departure at the hands of grumpy German voters. An in-depth feature at Yahoo! News this week tracks the mixed reviews she receives at home and elsewhere (“Special Report: The two lives of Angela Merkel” by Andreas Rinke and Stephen Brown, Nov 16, 2010).
But an article in yesterday’s Spiegel Online International reports that, at least, when it comes to her position as leader of her party, Merkel is now more secure than ever (“The Beginning of the Merkel Era” Nov 16, 2010).
We smile coyly through our tears.
He said She said: Gavin Hewitt on the Greece crisis
A highly readable telling of the center-stage action in the Greece-Euro-EU-Germany squabbling of recent months was offered this week by Gavin Hewitt, BBC‘s Europe editor (“Greece and the story of George and Angela” May 3, 2010).
Even for those in faraway lands who pay less attention to Europe than they do to passing clouds, Hewitt’s informative narrative of the high-stakes duel between Germany’s Angela Merkel and Greece’s George Papandreou is easy to follow.
Excerpt:
So round after round they eyed each other. As the cost of borrowing increased for Greece George played his club card. They were all in the European family together. He waved the flag of European solidarity, guessing correctly that others , particularly EU officials, would come to his side. He was after a big loan that would persuade the financial markers to back off. Angela didn’t buy into this. Greece had to do more…
Saw the link to Hewitt’s piece on Bloggingportal.eu.
