German Chancellor Angela Merkel named Time magazine’s ‘Person of 2015’
Time magazine on Wednesday named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its “Person of the Year 2015”, hailing her leadership for navigating debt and refugee crises that threatened to tear the European Union apart.
“For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is Time's Person of the Year,” wrote editor Nancy Gibbs.
Time described her as de facto leader of the European Union who this year steered the union through two existential crises – Greek bankruptcy and the migrant crisis.
You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road. Leaders are tested only when people don't want to follow
Throughout the eurozone crisis, when a battered continent looked to Berlin, Merkel preached fiscal discipline and kept a tight grip on the nation's purse strings, soothing the angst of a thrifty populace.
But it was this summer that the usually cautious leader took the biggest gamble in her decade in power by throwing open Germany's doors to asylum seekers – owning an issue set to define her legacy.
One million asylum seekers are expected in the country by the end of December as conflicts rage in Syria, the Middle East and Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert, warmly welcomed the accolade, announced by Time on American breakfast television.
“I am sure that the chancellor will see it as an encouragement to press on with her political work for the good of Germany as well as Europe,” he said.