Word: merkel
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy met in Berlin on Monday, a major issue on their agenda was European immigration. While Sarkozy and Merkel were facing some critical questions from students of a local high school - one 18-year old girl, for instance, questioned the German Chancellor about the absence of immigrants in her cabinet - German foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier and his French counterpart Bernhard Kouchner turned the official occasion into a multicultural house party...
...ntefering had recently quarreled with Chancellor Angela Merkel over her refusal to introduce a minimum wage; he had also tussled with his own party's left wing over government plans to roll back welfare reforms introduced under the previous SPD-led government. But already questions have shifted from what engendered Müntefering's departure to what it could mean for the future: a leftward shift in the SPD, the end of any meaningful economic reforms for the current German government, and possibly the opening salvo in elections expected...
...ntefering was a key figure of compromise in Germany's ruling partnership between Merkel's center right Christian Democratic Union and the SPD, the two "volksparteien" that have ruled Germany in coalition since 2005. He may be best known outside Germany for his disparaging remarks in 2005 comparing hedge funds to "locusts" that descend on a country and strip it bare (a comment of which he remained proud, keeping a statue of the insect on his desk). But Müntefering was in fact a more centrist figure than many of his party colleagues. Newspapers referred...
...party to increase government spending. His resignation came shortly after he failed in coalition talks to prevent the government from rolling back a reform that had been credited with reducing unemployment. Despite occasional disagreements and opposing party affiliations, Müntefering generally got along well with Angela Merkel, despite their opposing party affiliations. His replacement as Vice Chancellor, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will retain his current post as foreign minister, has a more arm's-length relationship with the CDU Chancellor. The two recently disagreed openly on policy towards China and Russia...
...generate the kind of media voltage produced by their Gallic counterparts, Nicolas and Cecilia Sarkozy, in New England over the summer. Madame Sarkozy, then on the verge of leaving her husband, turned down an invitation to a barbecue with the Bushes in Kennebunkport, Maine, claiming she was ill. Frau Merkel and Herr Sauer, by contrast, enjoy a more settled partnership, which is unlikely to offer the sort of fodder for speculation that the Sarkozys did. In marriage, as in transatlantic politics, the less news the better...