José Manuel Barroso

President of the European Commission, 2004-14

In my 10 years as head of the European Commission, Angela Merkel was clearly the most influential national leader in Europe. But at her first G8 summit in 2006, she was still relatively shy, maybe even a little suspicious, as the photo shows.

I feel like it has nothing to do with her being a woman. Instead, I linked it to his background: Politicians from countries with a recent totalitarian past tend to be a bit reserved when they first enter the European or international arena.

I remember a conversation with her and the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera. Piñera entered politics at the end of the Pinochet era, after a career in business. She asked him why he got involved in politics because she was trying to compare his political experience, also coming from a non-democratic country, with that of the Chilean president.

Merkel was very frank: she told us that when she was very young she wanted to join the Young Pioneers, the youth organization of the East German Socialist Party, not because of her ideology but because there had interesting activities and trips there, but realized that she would never be welcomed there as the daughter of a Christian pastor. His attitude towards politics was one of pragmatic distrust of power.

It also implied, at least at the start of his relationship with Nicolas Sarkozy, the leader of France, his greatest ally in Europe, a very clear attitude of mistrust. I was in many meetings with the two of them because of the sovereign debt crisis, and you could hardly have found a more different pair of people in terms of temperament: one of them a real intuitive political animal. , the other rational, cautious, meticulous -oriented.

I saw her emotionally hurt by Sarkozy’s comments. Around a glass of wine after a dinner – Merkel likes a good glass of red, but not during Lent – she confessed to me that she heard the French president say that France, unlike Germany, did not have constantly apologizing for the past. She was almost crying when she relayed this episode.

People have a picture of Merkel as being rational to the point of coldness. But I saw her several times with sincere emotion. She is a very German, ultimately, a patriot and passionate supporter of the German soccer team, who once complained to Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that her country’s players were too aggressive in a match against her.

And yet, it is very rationally pro-European: despite its suspicions, it has linked the fate of the German people to the European Union and the euro zone, ultimately supporting all the instruments put in place to protect the single currency. With Sarkozy too, she knew it was vital for Germany and France to find common ground, and she worked on it.

Merkel-era Germany has been criticized for letting economic interests sway its stance on Russia. This overlooks his strong support for sanctions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his clear words about the poisoning of Alexei Navalny.

With Vladimir Putin, the only other leader in this photo in 2006 who is still in power, Merkel has always had the right tone. She showed respect for Russia and her history, and she would never have called it a “regional power” like Obama did. At the same time, she has always been extremely firm on questions of principle.

Russian leader to repair a vital oil pipeline.” src=”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/59735149624570e1aca3d32c30eefaa7030ca16b/0_366_1878_1127/master/1878.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=6b4ce8741690f753488b617ca8921534″ height=”1127″ width=”1878″ loading=”lazy” class=”dcr-1989ovb”/>

I remember the 2007 EU-Russia summit in Samara and a conversation between Putin, Merkel and myself. Recently there had been a rupture of the Druzhba pipeline system, which is crucial for transporting oil to Western Europe and the Baltic countries. We knew Russia was behind it all, but Putin denied it, saying it was an accident. Merkel pushed him brilliantly. Why not fix it, she asked. It’s expensive, Putin said. We will pay for it, Merkel replied. Putin lost his temper at this point. Why are you still defending the Balts, he asked us.

Merkel had learned something from Helmut Kohl: in the European Union, you have to pay attention to everyone, not just big personalities and big countries.

You could also see this at the G20 summits: most leaders come into the room and only shake hands with their counterparts. Merkel was different. She also greeted the collaborators of the various delegations. She wouldn’t just say hello to Obama, she would also address Mike Froman, the President’s Sherpa. Of course, Froman was delighted.

Why was she doing it? I think that’s partly her temperament, but she also knew she could get more information from assistants who had read the documents in more detail than the heads of state.

Tony Blair

British Prime Minister, 1997-2007

Angela Merkel has often defined modern Germany. Not in terms of longevity in power, but in the spirit that it symbolized: calm, assured, reasonable and rational, common sense embodied, collaborating across national borders, inaugurating a gradual reform at home.

I was close to her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, from the same political wing as us, but first knew Angela when she was Leader of the Opposition, then Chancellor during my later years as Prime Minister when we developed a friendship that lasted after I left office.

Her tenure as Chancellor saw her through the financial crisis, the threat of populism, the refugee crisis, Brexit and now the Covid. Its strategic management of the country, as well as its deep contribution to European affairs, has been the foundation of stability in a time of profound changes and challenges.

Many will remember his chancellery for his highly competent crisis management, pragmatism and seriousness. But my memories of our interactions which concern as much his warmth, his wisdom and his humor. One of the last times we met in Berlin, we concluded a meeting on the future of Africa, only for her to realize that the Chancellery seemed completely deserted. Unfazed, Angela stood up and said she would escort us out of the building herself. After a number of false turns, the building being a sort of maze, she finally managed to escort us, but without any irritation or sense of status.

Every politician has a dominant part of their political psyche. For Angela, it’s about seeing compromise and navigating the political challenge with maximum attention to the practical solution, as a strength and not a weakness.

Throughout the eurozone crisis, it performed an insurmountable task: to help the poorest countries of the European Union face the existential threat to their stability, while supporting German public opinion, which is not against nature to think that Germany should not have to bail out these countries. whose reforms were proceeding too slowly.

In fact, its legacy to Europe is to have led it through extraordinarily difficult times, when a Europe now made up of 27 countries has had to face multiple crises. I know how she felt about Brexit – she was deeply saddened by it. But she was still thereafter determined not to be brutal about the decision the British had made.

Even her biggest domestic crisis – the promise to take a million Syrian refugees – came from a place of compassion.

She was the quintessential anti-populist, both in character and in politics. His leadership will be sorely missed.

Romano Prodi

Italian Prime Minister, 2006-08

The last time I met Angela Merkel was in Assisi in 2018 when the Franciscan friars conferred the “Lamp of Peace” on her because of her merits in preserving peace in Europe. During the ceremony, I reflected on why she deserved the award: not because of her strong statements or unexpected actions, but rather for having succeeded in balancing Germany’s national interests with the demands. of the European project. Indeed, while recognizing the increasingly dominant role of Germany in the continent’s economy, it has also been able to arbitrate between nationalist pressures and solidarity with European partners.

Although this dilemma has arisen many times, she has always managed to find a final compromise, as in the crises of the Greek and Syrian refugees. It has been able to reconcile short-term pressures with the long-term interests of European solidarity, which is also essential for Germany’s future role in the world.

Thanks to the trust that the German people placed in her, Chancellor Merkel had the opportunity to develop a new European strategy after the pandemics. The new generation EU is not only the symbol of the common fight against the crisis but also and above all a sign of the irreversibility of the European project. This is the great legacy Angela Merkel will leave for the future of Germany and Europe.