Angela Merkel's 16 years: It matters not what she did, it matters how she did it

On September 26, Germany held parliamentary elections, according to the results of which the name of the new German chancellor will be announced. For the first time since 2005, Angela Merkel will not lead the Christian Democratic Union and thus will not be able to apply for the post of the German leader. Pravda.Ru sums up the results of 16 years of Merkel's service as Germany's first woman chancellor.

Angela Merkel did not want to run for federal chancellor back in September 2017. Barack Obama, who flew to Berlin, persuaded her to run for another term. Later, the 44th President of the United States confessed to his speechwriter Ben Rhodes that he noticed "a tear in her eyes."

The Bundes Chancellor (since November 2005, after Merkel took this position, a "Chancellor" neologism in feminine gender appeared in the German language — Bundeskanzlerin) was to stand guard over the "free world." Her goals in particular were:

• to bail out the Paris Climate Agreement;
• put off the Minsk Accords as long as possible;
• maintain geopolitical pressure on Russia;
• put pressure on the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Unlike her predecessors, patron Helmut Kohl and political opponent Gerhard Schroeder, Angela Merkel was prominent on the foreign policy arena up to a certain time. She was a prominent figure until Germany was inundated with immigrants. However, the geopolitical role of the Federal Republic of Germany has increased anyway.

Merkel's predecessors had fulfilled their roles: Germany was united and then reformed. Voters longingly remember social democrat Gerhard Schroeder, as Germany was flourishing during his rule.

One has to give Angela Merkel credit for saving the global economy after the 2008 financial crisis. The massive interference of the state to save the euro has drawn criticism. Angela Dorothea Merkel, née Kasner, was reminded of her East German origins and the economic policies of the GDR.

"So what if it worked," Merkel replied with a shrug. "I want as much market economy as possible, with as much government intervention as necessary."

It was Merkel's lack of response to her being wiretapped by the American National Security Agency (NSA) that pushed the Germans to coin the noun 'Merkeln' meaning "doing nothing," and the slang verb 'merkeln' i became synonymous with:

• "make no decisions"
• "postpone decisions indefinitely",
• "never comment on anything related to politics."

As for Merkel's oversights, one should name the following five:

• health care reform (since 2005);
• the deployment of Bundeswehr military personnel in Afghanistan (since 2005);
• increase in unemployment (since 2005);
• economic crisis and an increase in bankruptcy cases (since 2008);
• Trojans that block computers with a message allegedly from the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) (since 2007).

As for Angela Merkel's legacy, the Germans like to say that it does not matter what she did — it matters how she did it.

German screenwriter and writer David Safir published his bestseller "Miss Merkel" this year. In his book, author suggested that pensioner Merkel, tired of idleness, who lives with her husband Joachim Sauer, bodyguard Mike and a pug dog in the bosom of nature in a small and quiet town in northeastern Germany, was beginning an investigation into the poisoning of Baron Philip von Baugenwitz, who was found dead in one of the dungeons of the castle. Will Merkel be able to find a real friend in life, or is she going to be killed by one of six female suspects?

If pensioner Merkel started digging up evidence to prove the poisoning of the unfortunate baron similarly to how she unconditionally believed in the poisoning of the Skripals and Navalny, she will not win Miss Marple's laurels. Let's not condemn Frau Merkel as Teresa May proved to be a worthless detective as well.