Can Angel Merkel buck the neo-fascist and authoritarian tide sweeping the West and preserve liberal Democracy in Western Europe's largest country?

Merkel to Seek 4th Term as Germany’s Leader




BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, under siege domestically and widely seen as a pillar of Western liberalism, will stand for a fourth term next year.

Since the election of Donald J. Trump as president in the United States, speculation had mounted that Ms. Merkel would bow to pressure to stand for election again and uphold liberal values in a world transformed by Mr. Trump’s victory and Britain’s vote last summer to leave the European Union.

Ms. Merkel’s decision was reported by the German news media and confirmed by a lawmaker from her Christian Democratic party . Party leaders were meeting on Sunday, and Ms. Merkel was due to hold a news conference later in the day.

Ms. Merkel, 62, has served 11 years as chancellor. She is the first woman and the first leader raised in Communist East Germany to hold the post.

Since coming to power in 2005, Ms. Merkel, a scientist by training, has gradually acquired a political stature commensurate with the power of her country, Europe’s largest economy and most populous nation, with about 81 million inhabitants.

But her image as the cautious caretaker of her country’s interests has suffered over the past year, after she opened Germany to hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, many of them Muslim refugees fleeing wars in the Middle East and Africa.

The prospect of integrating almost 1 million newcomers into Germany has weakened Ms. Merkel’s standing at home, while garnering praise particularly from President Obama.

Visiting Berlin this past week, Mr. Obama lavished compliments on his longest-standing ally in his eight years in office, saying that if he were German, he would vote for her.

Ms. Merkel, who is known for her patience and low-key style, responded to the election of Mr. Trump with a robust appeal for him to stick to Western values and respect human dignity. This, she said, was the basis of any close cooperation.

At the same time, even as commentators and leaders outside Germany invoked her stature, Ms. Merkel has been characteristically eager not to hog the limelight.

“One person alone can never solve everything,” she said on Friday at a news conference with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain. “We are strong only together. In that, I want to do what my duty is as chancellor.”

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