Angela Merkel



Angela Dorothea Merkel (born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician and scientist who served as the chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018. Merkel was the first female chancellor of Germany. During her tenure as Chancellor, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world.

2000s

 * Some of our opponents cannot help putting ourselves in the extreme right corner in the immigration discussion just because we draw attention to the danger of parallel societies in connection with immigration. That, dear friends, is the pinnacle of mendacity, and one such hypocrisy will collapse like a house of cards in front of people. That is why we will continue to demand regulated control and limitation of immigration.
 * Time: Angela Merkel at the CDU party conference on December 1, 2003


 * Ich denke an dichte Fenster! Kein anderes Land kann so dichte und so schöne Fenster bauen.
 * Translation: I am thinking of airtight windows! No other country can build such airtight and beautiful windows.
 * Answering the question what emotions Germany arouses in her, Interview in the BILD-Zeitung on November 29, 2004


 * Der Staat muss fördern und darf nicht einschränken. In diesem Sinne muss er Gärtner sein und nicht Zaun. Wir sollten den Menschen zutrauen, dass sie sich engagieren und Verantwortung übernehmen wollen.
 * Translation: The state has to assist and must not constrict. In this spirit it has to be the gardener and not the fence. We should be confident that the people want to get [socially] involved and want to assume responsibility.
 * Interview in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (sueddeutsche.de) on May 20, 2006


 * Es ist wahr: Europa ist kein Christenklub. Aber wahr ist auch: Europa ist ein Grundwerteklub. Hier bei uns gelten Menschen- und Bürgerrechte. Diese Menschen- und Bürgerrechte beruhen bei uns ganz wesentlich auf dem Menschenbild des Christentums.
 * Translation: It is true: Europe is no club of christians. But the following is also true: Europe is a club of core values. Here Human and Civil Rights apply. These Human and Civil Rights substantially are based on the christian idea of man.
 * Speech at the 20th federal party convent of the CDU in the Dresdner Frauenkirche on November 27, 2006


 * Nicht die Welt muss dem Iran nachweisen, dass er eine Bombe baut, sondern der Iran muss die Welt überzeugen, dass er die Atombombe nicht will.
 * Translation: The world does not have to prove to Iran that Iran is building a nuclear bomb. Iran has to convince the world that it is not striving towards such a bomb.
 * At the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2007


 * Aber Demokratie ist nicht immer eine Sache von einsamen Entscheidungen, sondern in der Regel ein Geschäft der Meinungsbildung vieler.
 * Translation: However democracy is not always a matter of unilateral decisions, but normally a business of opinion formation of many.
 * Interview in the Berliner Zeitung (berlinonline.de) on November 7, 2007


 * Und so wünsche ich mir, dass die Bürgerinnen und Bürger Europas in 50 Jahren sagen werden: Damals, in Berlin, da hat das vereinte Europa die Weichen richtig gestellt. Damals, in Berlin, da hat die Europäische Union den richtigen Weg in eine gute Zukunft eingeschlagen. Sie hat anschließend ihre Grundlagen erneuert, um nach innen, auf diesem alten Kontinent, wie nach außen, in dieser einen großen-kleinen Welt, einen Beitrag zu leisten.
 * Translation: And therefore I wish, that in 50 years the citizens of Europe will say: At that time, in Berlin, the united Europe has set the course correctly. At that time, in Berlin, the European Union has pursued a good future. Then it has renewed its fundamentals to make its contribution inwards, on this old continent, as well as outwards, in this big-small world.
 * Speech at the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome on March 25, 2007


 * Even after the end of the Cold War we are […] faced with the task of tearing down the walls between different concepts of life, in other words the walls in people's minds that make it difficult time and again to understand one another in this world of ours. This is why the ability to show tolerance is so important. While, for us, our way of life is the best possible way, others do not necessarily feel that way. There are different ways to create peaceful coexistence. Tolerance means showing respect for other people's history, traditions, religion and cultural identity. But let there be no misunderstanding: Tolerance does not mean "anything goes". There must be zero tolerance towards all those who show no respect for the inalienable rights of the individual and who violate human rights.
 * Remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel before a joint session of Congress on November 04, 2009.
 * Dokumentation: Angela Merkels Rede im US-Kongress im Wortlaut


 * Freedom is the very essence of our economy and society. Without freedom the human mind is prevented from unleashing its creative force. But what is also clear is that this freedom does not stand alone. It is freedom in responsibility and freedom to exercise responsibility.
 * Remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel before a joint session of Congress on November 04, 2009.
 * Dokumentation: Angela Merkels Rede im US-Kongress im Wortlaut


 * The Freedom Bell in Berlin is, like the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, a symbol which reminds us that freedom does not come about of itself. It must be struggled for and then defended anew every day of our lives.'
 * Remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel before a joint session of Congress on November 04, 2009.
 * Dokumentation: Angela Merkels Rede im US-Kongress im Wortlaut

2010s

 * Of course the tendency had been to say, 'Let's adopt the multicultural concept and live happily side by side, and be happy to be living with each other.' But this concept has failed, and failed utterly.
 * As quoted in Angela Merkel: German Chancellor says multiculturalism is a sham by Rick Noack, 14 December 2015, '; and in Angela Merkel: Multiculturalism Is A Lie, According To 'Time Magazine's' 'Person Of The Year' (December 15, 2015) by Chris Hearn, '


 * History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their fears and openly confront dictators such as in East Germany and Eastern Europe about 22 years ago. […] The yearning for freedom cannot be contained by walls for long. It was this yearning that brought down the Iron Curtain that divided Germany and Europe, and indeed the world, into two blocs.
 * Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel in an Exchange of Toasts on June 07, 2011.


 * Also today, the yearning for freedom may well make totalitarian regimes tremble and fall. We have followed with great interest and empathy the profound changes in North Africa and in the Arab world. Freedom is indivisible. Each and every one has the same right to freedom, be it in North Africa or Belarus, in Myanmar or Iran. Still, the struggle for freedom is demanding far too many sacrifices, and claiming far too many victims. My thoughts are with our soldiers, our policemen, and the many, many volunteers who try to help. I humbly bow to all those who risk their lives for the cause of freedom.
 * Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel in an Exchange of Toasts on June 07, 2011.


 * We see that living in freedom and defending freedom are two sides of one and the same coin, for the precious gift of freedom doesn’t come naturally, but has to be fought for, nurtured, and defended time and time again. Sometimes this may seem like an endless fight against windmills. But you see, my personal experience is a quite different one. What we dare not dream of today may well become reality tomorrow. Neither the chains of dictatorship nor the fetters of oppression can keep down the forces of freedom for long.
 * Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel in an Exchange of Toasts on June 07, 2011.


 * We Are All in the Same Boat.
 * spiegel.de, june 3, 2013


 * This is a good day for the world's children. Children who today have no right to their own childhood, to education, to personal inviolability, have with these two representatives, these prize winners, got a voice both for the right to education — particularly for girls — and against unfair and exploitative child labor.
 * Reaction to the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize announcement CTV News, (10th October 2014)


 * I understand why he has to do this; to prove he's a man... He's afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.
 * As quoted in "The Quiet German" (1 December 2014), by George Paker, The New Yorker.


 * Der Islam gehört zu Deutschland."
 * Translation: The Islam belongs to Germany.
 * Merkel during a press conference with the turkish Minister Davutoğlu on January 13, 2015, "The Islam belongs to Germany: The background of one single sentence", January 13, 2015.


 * Wenn wir uns jetzt noch entschuldigen müssen dafür, dass wir in Notsituationen ein freundliches Gesicht zeigen, dann ist das nicht mein Land"
 * Translation: If we must now have to apologize for showing a friendly face in times of crisis, then this is not my country.
 * Merkel during a press conference on September 15, 2015 "Dan ist das nicht mein Land, September 15, 2015.


 * Ist mir egal, ob ich schuld am Zustrom der Flüchtlinge bin, nun sind sie halt da.
 * Translation: I do not care whether it is my fault that the inflow of refugees is happening, now they are here.
 * At an internal meeting of the CDU/CSU parties on September 22, 2015, "The Union rejects to follow Merkel", September 27, 2015.


 * Es liegt nicht in meiner Macht – und nicht in der Macht irgendeines Menschen in Deutschland – zu bestimmen, wie viele Menschen hierher kommen.
 * Translation: I do not have the power - besides no one has the power in Germany - to control how many people will cross the border to Germany.
 * Merkel interviewed by Anne Will (German talk show) on October 7, 2015, "Angela Merkel: There will be no stop of receiving (refugees)", October 10, 2015.


 * Personally I think that Austria’s unilateral decision, and then those made subsequently by Balkan countries, will obviously bring us fewer refugees, but they put Greece in a very difficult situation. If we do not manage to reach a deal with Turkey, then Greece cannot bear the weight for long. That’s why I am seeking a real European solution, that is, a solution for all 28 (E.U. members)
 * German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized other European countries for shutting the door to refugees and migrants hoping to reach Europe via the Balkan route, the BBC reports, quoted on Time, "The route is the major pathway to Western Europe for refugees arriving in Greece", March 10, 2016.


 * From my point of view, a completely covered woman has almost no chance of integrating herself in Germany.
 * Speaking on the Radio Station Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, as quoted in "Angela Merkel says burqa incompatible with integration in society for Muslim women" by Callum Paton, International Business Times (19 August 2016).


 * German law takes precedence over sharia. The full face veil should be banned, wherever legally possible.
 * "Angela Merkel calls for burka ban in Germany", The Telegraph (6 December 2016).


 * Climate change is an issue determining our destiny as mankind – it will determine the well-being of all of us.
 * Cited in: Damian Carrington, "Climate change will determine humanity's destiny, says Angela Merkel", , 15 November 2017 (page visited on 15 November 2017).


 * We can only shape a bright future if we are aware of Germany's enduring responsibility for the ultimate betrayal of all civilised values that was the Shoah.
 * Angela Merkel's speech about Holocaust (Shoah).
 * Source:United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 24.04.2017


 * We will do everything in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit; Britain crashing out of the European Union.
 * Brexit: Barnier and Varadkar 'to take stock' in talks BBC News (5 April 2019)

Joint press conference of 17 November 2016

 * Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel of Germany in a Joint Press Conference (November 17, 2016)


 * Globalization -- and I think we share this conviction -- is that globalization needs to be shaped politically. It needs to be given a human face. But we cannot allow to fall back into pre-globalization times. So this conclusion of trade agreements that go beyond the scope of mere tariff agreements, customs agreements, are most important.


 * For us Europeans, Africa as a neighboring continent is of prime importance. The development of African countries is in our very own vested interest. We, as Germans, but also we, as members of the European Union, will have to deal with this.


 * The European Union as a whole, but also Germany, needs to recognize that this is our alliance, our common alliance, our transatlantic alliance, that we have to step up our engagement. Because, in the long run, we will not be allowed to accept this imbalance as regards the contributions we give to this alliance. And we have understood this message, and we have started to react.


 * We work very closely together on the issue of annexation of Crimea and Russia’s attempt to actually conquer Ukraine. And actually they did so -- conquered part of the territory. We tried to come to a peaceful settlement here on this.


 * Our interests are very much aligned. Our attempts of cooperation are very much aligned.


 * Der Terror ist Teil des Alltags unserer Städte.
 * Translation: The terror is now part of everyday life in our cities.
 * Merkel holding a speech in front of German Bundestag on November 23, 2016, "Speech of German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel", November 23, 2016.

2020s

 * We are in a very serious situation. We must act, and now, to avoid an acute national health emergency
 * Coronavirus: Germany to impose one-month partial lockdown October 28, 2020


 * After US troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan, Europe must define its own security interests more clearly. It has been seen that America is no longer unconditionally ready to take on a leadership role anywhere in the world.
 * As quoted by MDR Aktuell, October 11, 2021

Quotes about Angela Merkel

 * No major US ally has been spared from the president's indignities. In private, he pillories partner nations and their leaders and is not shy about doing the same in the open, as in the case of his comment about the Canadian prime minister being "very dishonest & weak," only hours after being hosted by the northern neighbor. He's done the same with France, mocking President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter for his low approval ratings and high unemployment, and with Germany, criticizing Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration for failing to reduce crime and accusing its leaders of being freeloaders that take advantage of US generosity.
 * Anonymous, A Warning (2019), p. 175


 * I think when she focuses on this principle of the right to asylum, she is morally and politically correct.
 * French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said when asked about Merkel's welcome of migrants to Germany, quoted on Hawaii News Now, "The Latest: French minister hails Merkel's refugee stance", March 10, 2016.


 * In many parts of the world, politicians can no longer claim that they do not have the social mandate for taking the climate crisis seriously: citizens are clearly calling for a strong government response, with high levels of public concern about climate change and wide-ranging support for policies to cut emissions. In recognition of this, some senior politicians have actively encouraged citizen activism that pushes them to do more, for example Angela Merkel when she was Chancellor asking young Germans to 'pile on the pressure', and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon acknowledging that 'our feet do need to be held to the fire'.
 * Stuart Capstick and Lorraine Whitmarsh in The Climate Book edited by Greta Thunberg (2022)


 * Europe was less distracted and divided by disinformation campaigns from fossil fuel companies and emerged early on as a global leader on the climate issue...In Germany - another of Europe's major greenhouse-gas-emitting nations - the Green Party had been growing in influence since the mid-1980s, causing the two major political parties there to adopt environmental and energy goals, which Angela Merkel, a former chemist, continued to pursue after her ascension to Chancellor in 2005. Thus, when the US stepped back from leadership on the climate issue, the European Union, led by the UK and Germany as well as the Netherlands and its Scandinavian member states, partly filled the void and pushed for global action to address the problem. Benefitting from German reunification and the collapse of the former East Germany's emissions, and those from other former Soviet states, the EU achieved the target it agreed to at Kyoto.
 * Michael Oppenheimer in The Climate Book edited by Greta Thunberg (2022)


 * One of my favorites is Angela Merkel because I think she's been an extraordinary, strong leader during difficult times in Europe, which has obvious implications for the rest of the world and, most particularly, our country... her bravery in the face of the refugee crisis is something that I am impressed by.
 * Hillary Clinton, in


 * Russia was now becoming a dominant factor in European diplomacy. It had copious natural resources, a large army, a nuclear arsenal and a reckless capacity for mischief-making, cyber attacks and overseas assassination. As Churchill had said in 1939, Russia might always be ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’, but on one matter Putin was crystal clear. He did not like NATO’s encirclement of his borders or meddling within his ‘sphere of interest’. In this he had an increasingly sympathetic ear from Germany’s Angela Merkel and from some former Warsaw Pact leaders. Geography mattered. It was easy for Britain and France to play belligerence with Moscow. It was less easy for Germany and the still ingénue democracies to its east.
 * Simon Jenkins, A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin (2018)


 * In 2015 Merkel in Germany made a radical gesture. After the failure of an EU plan to absorb refugees from the Syrian civil war flowing into Greece, she decided to offer them sanctuary in Germany. Over a million accepted. The reaction was fierce. An unashamedly right-wing group, Alternative for Germany, emerged in the 2018 German elections as the third largest party, strongest in the former East German provinces. Merkel, so long the queen of Europe, was almost toppled. A charismatic French president, Emmanuel Macron, elected in 2017, swiftly moved into lead position in the EU and promptly initiated yet another attempt to concentrate and reform the eurozone. Germany disagreed. Europe looked ever more divided and confused.
 * Simon Jenkins, A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin (2018)


 * We’ve discussed this topic election period after election period and every single time it was the CDU/CSU who blocked equal rights for lesbians and gays [...] Mrs. Merkel, I can’t spare you this, it was pathetic, it was embarrassing, since 2005 you have supported discrimination against lesbians and gays and done nothing to achieve equal rights.
 * Johannes Kahrs, Bundestag votes on marriage equality in Germany (June 29, 2017)


 * In recent years, key European politicians have also used language not dissimilar to Mr Brevik. Last year, Angela Merkel asserted that multikulti, or multiculturalism, had failed.
 * Praveen Swami, Anders Breivik & Europe's blind right eye (July 25, 2011), ''


 * There was a strange aftertaste to many of the calls for grand social reform in 2020. As the coronavirus crisis overtook us, the left wing on both sides of the Atlantic, at least that part that had been fired up Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, was going down to defeat. The promise of a radicalized and reenergized left, organized around the idea of the Green New Deal, seemed to dissipate amidst the pandemic. It fell to governments mainly of the center and the right to meet the crisis. They were a strange assortment. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States experimented with denial. For them climate skepticism and virus skepticism went hand in hand. In Mexico, the notionally left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador also pursued a maverick path, refusing to take drastic action. Nationalist strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey did not deny the virus, but relied on their patriotic appeal and bullying tactics to see them through. It was the managerial centrist types who were under most pressure. Figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the United States, or Sebastián Piñera in Chile, or Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and their ilk in Europe. They accepted the science. Denial was not an option. They were desperate to demonstrate that they were better than the 'populists.' To meet the crisis, very middle-of-the-road politicians ended up doing very radical things. Most of it was improvisation and compromise, but insofar as they managed to put a programmatic gloss on their responses—whether in the form of the EU's Next Generation program or Biden's Build Back Better program in 2020—it came from the repertoire of green modernization, sustainable development, and the Green New Deal.
 * Adam Tooze, Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World Economy (2021)


 * A Western source told The Jerusalem Post that Merkel lobbied the Romanian president to put a halt on the relocation of its embassy to Jerusalem. It is believed that Merkel called other European politicians as part of a campaign to block the relocation of European embassies to Jerusalem.
 * Benjamin Weinthal, Exclusive: Merkel urged Romanian President to not move embassy to Jerusalem (November 15, 2018), 


 * Speaking from the European parliament, Sandell said, “What we have found out, something I heard for quite some time already, from central and eastern European countries that would have an inclination to move their embassy to Jerusalem, this is the natural thing for them to do, is that they have received phone calls from Berlin, from Angela Merkel, the chancellor. Basically, this cannot happen under any circumstances. I have spoken to many Germans these last few days in Brussels,” he said. “They are not aware of this, and all of them would be shocked that all of the countries in the European Union today would want to block an embassy move to Jerusalem, not only for your own country, but for other countries that have the conviction [that] this is the right thing to do, the only country to do would be Germany. This is a big shock.”
 * Benjamin Weinthal, Exclusive: Merkel urged Romanian President to not move embassy to Jerusalem (November 15, 2018), 


 * I invite Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy to visit Bucha and see what the policy of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years. To see with their own eyes the tortured Ukrainian men and women.
 * Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 3, 2022, quoted on The Guardian, "Zelenskiy criticises west's 'policy of concessions to Russia' in lead up to war", April 4, 2022.