Merkel faces stormy times in 4th term as German leader
BERLIN — Angela Merkel is embarking on her fourth term as German chancellor in stormy times, facing pressure to bolster a fractious European Union and prove that liberal democracy can succeed as she faces a trade standoff with an increasingly protectionist U.S. as well as a confident China and Russia.
Merkel, chancellor since 2005 and the EU’s longest-serving leader, was sworn in Wednesday with a “grand coalition” of Germany’s biggest parties. That ended nearly six months of drift after September’s election, during which Germany’s voice in the world has been weakened by the domestic political impasse.
Merkel can turn her attention fully to matters such as French President Emmanuel Macron’s months-old proposals for ambitious reforms of the EU and its currency union, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of trade tariffs against the EU and even taxes on German automakers.
Merkel, 63, has long dismissed the notion that she should be regarded as the “leader of the free world” following the election of Trump, who is unpopular in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. She says no one person or country can solve every problem.