Chinanews, October 23, a comprehensive report, on the 22nd local time, German Chancellor Merkel went to Brussels to attend the EU summit, and this is likely to be her last time to attend the meeting.
At the meeting, Merkel, who has been in charge of Germany for 16 years, received a standing tribute from European leaders, and former US President Barack Obama also sent a video speech.
Data map: German Chancellor Merkel.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Peng Dawei
According to reports, Merkel attended up to 107 EU summits and experienced many major transitions in the European Union's recent history, including the Eurozone debt crisis, Syrian refugees, Brexit, and the creation of the EU Epidemic Recovery Fund.
Michelle, the president of the European Council who presided over the summit, said after the leaders of 26 countries stood up and applauded, that the EU summit without Merkel "is like Rome without the Vatican, or Paris without the Eiffel Tower."
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Bettel praised Merkel and said that through “marathon-style” consultations within the EU, she “always finds something to unite us. Europe will miss her.” Austrian Chancellor Schellenberg described silently. Kerr is a "safe haven" within the EU, and her departure "will leave a hole."
Data map: On July 17, local time, in Brussels, Belgium, politicians from various countries who attended the face-to-face summit of the European Union "bumped" and greeted each other.
The picture shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and European Council President Michel (right) "bumping elbow" greetings.
In addition, the EU specially produced a video for Merkel, showing Merkel's first visit to the European Council in 2005.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama also called Merkel "a major pillar in many storms" in the video and said he was very happy to be her friend.
However, when Merkel addressed the media, her tone was slightly heavy.
Merkel said that when she was about to step down as German Chancellor, the EU was facing "a series of unresolved issues" and she was deeply concerned about the current situation.
The German Social Democratic Party (Social Democratic Party), the Green Party and the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party) officially launched negotiations on the formation of a cabinet on October 21 to discuss the joint formation of a new government.
Officials involved in the negotiations said that the three parties hope to complete the negotiations by the end of November and elect the SPD candidate for prime minister, the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Olaf Schultz, as the new prime minister in early December.