Yahoo – AFP,
Jennie Matthew, 9 Dec 2015
Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel was praised for her "steadfast moral
leadership" (AFP Photo/Thierry Charlier)
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New York
(AFP) - Time magazine on Wednesday named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its
person of the year for 2015, hailing her leadership during debt and refugee
crises that threatened to tear the European Union apart.
In power
for a decade at the helm of Europe's biggest economy, the world's most powerful
woman beat runners-up, the leader of the Islamic State extremist group and
Donald Trump as Time's dominant personality of the year.
The TIME
cover for Person of the
Year 2015 (AFP Photo)
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"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.
The person
of the year accolade acknowledges what the magazine considers to be the world's
biggest newsmaker, or influential mover.
Since the
tradition began in 1927, Merkel is only the fourth woman to win. Last year,
healthcare workers treating the Ebola epidemic were honored. In 2013, it was
Pope Francis. President Barack Obama has won twice.
Throughout
the eurozone crisis, when a battered continent looked to Berlin, Merkel has
preached fiscal discipline and kept a tight grip on the nation's purse strings,
soothing the angst of a thrifty populace.
On track
for million asylum seekers
This summer
the usually cautious leader took perhaps the biggest gamble of her career by
throwing open Germany's doors to asylum seekers -- owning an issue set to
define her legacy.
Germany
announced on Monday that it has welcomed more than 960,000 asylum seekers in
2015, putting it on track for a million arrivals this year, as conflicts rage
in Syria, the Middle East and Afghanistan.
In Europe,
a spokesman for Merkel welcomed the accolade, and EU president Donald Tusk
offered his congratulations, his spokesperson said.
Germany
registered 964,574 new asylum seekers in the first 11 months
of 2015 (AFP
Photo/Christof Stache)
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In the past
Time has showed its editorial teeth by naming sinister figures -- Adolf Hitler
in 1938 and Joseph Stalin both in 1939 and 1942.
A Lutheran
pastor's daughter, 61-year-old Merkel grew up behind the Iron Curtain and was
first elected chancellor in 2005.
She has
been praised by refugees as "Mama Merkel" and derided by others as
the eurozone's "austerity priestess." But her stunning ascent from
communist East Germany defies political convention.
"The
prospect of Greek bankruptcy threatened the very existence of the euro zone.
The migrant and refugee crisis challenged the principle of open borders. And
finally, the carnage in Paris revived the reflex to slam doors, build walls and
trust no one," Gibbs wrote Wednesday.
Not
taking the easy road
"Each
time Merkel stepped in. Germany would bail Greece out, on her strict terms. It
would welcome refugees as casualties of radical Islamist savagery, not carriers
of it," she added.
"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."
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel helped diffuse the crisis in eastern Ukraine
after
talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin (AFP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
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Seemingly
indifferent to the trappings of power and lacking vanity, she lives in a Berlin
flat with her rarely seen scientist husband Joachim Sauer.
She shops
in a neighborhood supermarket and spends holidays hiking in the Alps.
Her oratory
is often monotonous and she is awkward in front of the cameras, but it is this
air of ordinariness that has made Merkel a hit with German voters, who value
no-nonsense pragmatism and competence.
A star
student at school, she excelled in Russian, which she has put to use in
defusing the Ukraine conflict with President Vladimir Putin, who was a KGB
officer in East Germany when the Wall fell in 1989.
Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, leader of the IS extremist group, Republican presidential
candidate Trump, America's Black Lives Matter activists and Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani were named by Time as runners up.
Angela Merkel is TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/Be7EjFlRS2 pic.twitter.com/3YLPZJYSlq
— TIME.com (@TIME) December 9, 2015
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