Word: merkel
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...deal, which prevents German taxpayers' money from disappearing into the GM's all but empty coffers in the U.S., was a lifeline few Germans had expected. In the past, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party has steered clear of state intervention in the economy. But as the global downturn took its toll on German firms and the financial crisis brought a few major banks to its knees, Merkel has embarked on a big U-turn. First, there was the bail-out of the property lender Hypo Real Estate, then the part-nationalization of Germany's second biggest bank, Commerzbank...
...Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a conservative politician from Angela Merkel's sister CSU party, criticized the deal to save Opel and apparently threatened to resign on Friday night when he was over-ruled. Guttenberg, a rising star in Merkel's coalition government, controversially suggested Opel should go into an "orderly insolvency" and he accused the government of risking billions for a short-term solution. "There is the danger the state could be blackmailed if it is too generous with state help even on one occasion," Guttenberg told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday...
...Chancellor got her way. On Saturday, a beaming Angela Merkel held a news conference in Berlin to announce the breakthrough. There was no hiding her delight, and relief. "The deal is a real chance for Opel workers," Angela Merkel said. "The workers aren't responsible for this crisis. The mismanagement at GM in the U.S. was to blame," she said. (Read about Merkel in the TIME...
...Merkel revealed that she called President Barack Obama on Friday just before the final round of talks started and that this call helped swing the deal. "Because of the special (GM/Opel) structure, the talks were a real test of transatlantic relations," Merkel said...
...favor the plan presented by the Austrian billionaire Frank Stronach, whose Magna group is a major worldwide supplier of components to GM. Stronach has teamed up with Russian carmaker OAO GAZ Group and the state-controlled Russian financial group OAO Sberbank. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been lobbying Merkel to support the Magna bid. Stronach told reporters on the sidelines of Wednesday's meeting in Berlin that Magna "could run Opel as a global brand." (Read "Can Americans Learn to Love Fiat? Chrysler Hopes...