Today's #EPC Summit takes place at a crucial time. Europe's situation is difficult, complex and dangerous. War, migration and economic difficulties are tormenting our continent. It's high time for European leaders to rise to the challenge! pic.twitter.com/R6yxPC4dL1

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) November 7, 2024

I had to use my AI fake video detector falling over backward watching this scene in the center of global power in Budapest today. Viktor kissing the hand of Ursula.

'Sapere aude'

Die Ampel-Koalition steht wegen interner Konflikte in der Kritik. Auch Bundespräsident Steinmeier richtet nun seine Worte gegen die Haltung der Bundesregierung.[_link]

— TRT Deutsch (@TRTDeutsch) August 25, 2024

The coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) consisting of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP has been in the headlines for some time due to ongoing internal conflicts. Green Party leader Omid Nouripour recently publicly referred to it as a "transitional government", sparking debates. CDU leader Friedrich Merz interpreted the statement as an admission of the coalition's failure. Scholz rejected doubts about the government's ability to act, but admitted problems with the coalition's external image.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

- I congratulate my friend Donald Trump who has been reelected after winning the US presidential election with great struggle
- I hope our relations will be strengthened & Palestine issue & Ukraine war will be solved pic.twitter.com/vPMHF0GhQV

— TRT World (@trtworld) November 6, 2024

Interview Angela Merkel: Her Memoir 'Freedom' | BBC News |

Despite enjoying high popularity ratings during most of her time in office, Mrs Merkel now finds herself on the defensive.

She has just published her memoir, Freedom. And the timing is interesting. She says she did everything in her power to ensure peaceful means of co-operation with Russia.

In fact, Mr Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine just months after she left office. [That was clearly well planned by the Biden-Blinken-Nuland cabal as the US lost the Afghan campaign and influence in Central Asia]

This prompted a thorough re-examination in Europe of energy policies, diplomacy with Russia and also migration policies forced migration from war torn Syria that had become the norm under Mrs Merkel.

In 2015 and 2016, almost two and a half million forced migrants entered the European Union.

Ms Merkel, 70, now finds herself having to defend her legacy in other areas too.

[...]

Mrs Merkel tells the BBC she had two motives with the pipelines: German business interests but also maintaining peaceful links with Russia.

The migration crisis of 2015, when she famously opened Germany's doors to over a million asylum seekers, was perhaps the defining moment of her time in office.

It was hated by some, hailed by others. US President Barack Obama praised her as a courageous and moral leader.

President Obama exchanges toasts with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and presents her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a state dinner in the Rose Garden.

As for suggestions that her 2015 policies helped fuel anti-immigration and far-right parties elsewhere too, including the Netherlands, Poland and France, after she tried to impose migrant quotas across EU countries, Mrs Merkel says she can't be held responsible for all of Europe.

The only way to combat the far right is to stop illegal migration, she says.
She calls on Europe's leaders to invest more in African nations to improve standards of living there, so fewer people will be tempted to leave their homes.

But with Europe's economies sluggish, and voters worried about the cost of living, governments say there is little cash to spare.  

What Angela Merkel reveals and where she backs out | NWZ Online |

Angela Merkel presents her autobiography in Berlin. She defends her time in office and speaks out on current political issues. She is sometimes self-critical, but she doesn't want to take everything lying down.

Berlin - In the middle of it all, she becomes a little self-critical: Angela Merkel does not want to accept Anne Will's accusation that she only admits to minor errors in her memoirs and not to major misjudgements. "Am I doing you an injustice?" asks the moderator. "I think so," replies the former chancellor. And she admits that, for example, she has not succeeded in giving the right answers to climate change. That the Bundeswehr did not receive the necessary funds during her term in office. And that digitalization has not progressed as desired.

Merkel and Will are sitting opposite each other on the stage of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in dark gray armchairs, next to each of them a small table with a carafe of water. The lights are dimmed, the black theater curtain in the background, in front of it on a blue background in the same color is the oversized cover of her memoirs. Because that is what this evening is about: the former chancellor and CDU chairwoman is presenting her autobiography around three years after leaving politics. She wrote the 700-page book entitled "Freedom. Memories 1954 - 2021" together with her long-time confidante Beate Baumann.

No announcement about Taurus deliveries to Ukraine

She was happy to stop with operational politics, says Merkel, who this time chose an ivory color for her blazer. "Enough was enough." Anyone who hears her talk for two hours will not believe that she is no longer in the Chancellor's Office. She also takes a pointed stance on current political issues, only backing down in a few places. For example, on the question of whether Germany should supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. That is part of the operational task of an incumbent Chancellor, and she does not want to interfere and comment "from the sidelines."

Merkel still believes Nord Stream 2 was not a mistake

But otherwise Merkel comments on many things. And she remains true to herself despite the touch of self-criticism. The most striking example: her Ukraine and Russia policy, including the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. "On the one hand, it was about cheap gas, which was good for the German economy. On the other hand, I didn't want to cut off all economic relations with Russia."

Merkel cannot see why Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin would not have attacked Ukraine if Nord Stream 2 had not existed. Question from moderator Will: "So you don't regret anything?" The former chancellor's answer: "Personally, even looking back, I don't think it was a mistake. I just have to say that."

Merkel: I grant Merz his candidacy for chancellor

Almost a little patronizing, but then critical again, Merkel deals with her former competitor and current Union candidate for chancellor, Friedrich Merz. He fulfills an important requirement for the highest government office: "You need this unconditional will to power. Friedrich Merz has it too. And that's why I'm happy for him," says Merkel.