"Wir schaffen das"(We will succeed)," proclaimed the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of the summer of 2015, in the midst of the refugee crisis in Europe. Merkel's decision to open Germany's doors to refugees between 2015 and 2016 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers, most of them Syrians, divided the country.

Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz – Friedrich Merz’s full name – has gone from being Angela Merkel’s political rival within the conservative party to becoming Germany’s new chancellor. Merz, 69, will govern Europe’s largest economy for the next four years in coalition with the Social Democrats, after his party won the federal elections last FebruaryAnd after he has gained enough support in the Bundestag to be elected head of government, despite the scare of the first vote, in which he did not obtain enough votes: a warning that he probably will not have a peaceful term in office.

During a television debate during the election campaign, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was asked if he would board a plane piloted by the Conservative leader, Friedrich Merz"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "I suppose they justifiably gave him a pilot's license," the Social Democrat added. Merz, an amateur pilot, was also willing to give Scholz a ride on his private plane, although "it depends on where." "From Berlin to home, yes," said Merz, eager to replace him as chancellor.

During a television debate during the election campaign, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was asked if he would board a plane piloted by the Conservative leader, Friedrich Merz"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "I suppose they justifiably gave him a pilot's license," the Social Democrat added. Merz, an amateur pilot, was also willing to give Scholz a ride on his private plane, although "it depends on where." "From Berlin to home, yes," said Merz, eager to replace him as chancellor.

The shadow of former Chancellor Angela Merkel is long just days before the elections in Germany. Although the conservative He left the chancellery more than three years ago, his immigration policy has been the focus of all criticism in this election campaign and has given wings to the extreme right, which is second in the polls for voting intention. The immigration issue has become, along with the economy, one of the central issues of the election campaign.

It is interesting to see the extent to which Europe and the world today regret the end of Angela Merkel's reign. Her figure undoubtedly goes beyond her position as German chancellor and has ended up becoming one of the few pillars that Europe and the Western world had to face the crises and populist demagogies that have been on the rise in recent years. She has been in power for sixteen years and has dealt with affability, rigour and forcefulness with the great world leaders, from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin, who have tried unsuccessfully to belittle her and have turned her, on the rebound, into a model of non-aggressive leadership.

In the midst of the controversy over the cases of thrombi associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made a gesture of confidence in the British company and has received a dose herself. Through a tweet on the chancellery's official account, Merkel said she was "delighted" to have received the injection. "I thank everyone who is involved in the vaccination campaign and everyone who gets vaccinated. Vaccination is the key to overcoming the pandemic"

New extension in the anticovid restrictions in Germany. For more than 100 days bars, restaurants, theaters, cinemas, nightclubs and gyms in the Germanic country have closed, and it will continue to be so for at least three more weeks. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the presidents of the 16 Länder have agreed on Wednesday to keep current measures in place to contain the pandemic at least until March 7, although it had been announced that they would be lifted this Sunday. In fact, Merkel intended to extend the deadline for another week, until the 14th, but has come up against the opposition of the lands.