Of the 214 summits that the European Council of State and Government leaders has convened since its inception, Merkel ‘did’ 107 over a period of 16 years, European President Charles Michel calculated. “And I was there for eight years,” said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who says she will leave “an enormous void”. He called her ‘a compromise machine’, which always managed to bridge the gap in difficult moments. ,,A great politician, the stable factor you need under difficult circumstances. At critical moments, she always came up with a solution,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausede.
Michel called her ‘a monument’: “A summit without you will be like Rome without the Vatican or Paris without the Eiffel Tower.” Because audiovisual media were not allowed at the farewell, “it will remain unclear whether Merkel was happy to be compared to buildings,” according to website Politico.
#Europe #waves #goodbye #Angela #Merkel #warm #farewell #loyal #pillars