1) When She Put Theresa May To Shame With Her Muslim Ban Response To Trump
Most recently, Angela Merkel’s robust response to Donald Trump’s Muslim refugee ban was in stark contrast to the weak and diplomatically polite statement from Downing Street.
The German Chancellor said his executive order went against her “interpretation of the basic tenets of international refugee support and cooperation”.
She told a press conference on Monday: “The necessary and decisive fight against terrorism does not justify a general suspicion against people of a certain belief ― in this case people of Muslim belief or people from a certain country...
“That way of thinking is against my interpretation of the basic tenets of international refugee support and cooperation.”
By contrast, May has said simply: “We do not agree with this kind of approach.”
2) When Someone Sang Her Happy Birthday And Totally Butchered It
On a scale of one to cringe, this is pretty cringe.
During a press conference in 2014, a well-meaning but over-enthusiastic reporter insisted on honouring Merkel with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday To You’.
Hoping his fellow reporters would join in, he was instead left singing all on his lonesome as the Chancellor looked on slightly bemused.
“Perhaps it would have been better if I joined in,” she remarked with more than a hint of sarcasm.
3) When She Rang Trump To Tell Him How To Be A President
Back to Trump and his Muslim refugee ban. It later emerged that two days before Merkel berated the presidential executive order she had actually phoned trump to explain the Geneva Refugee Convention.
The Associated Press reported Merkel raised his responsibilities, citing the 1951 declaration that calls on signatories to take in people fleeing war, Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
4) When She Told David Cameron Not To Threaten Her Over Brexit
Obviously in hindsight this may not have had the desired impact but at the time it was an embarrassing public rebuke fro Cameron.
Amid a 2014 disagreement over who should be the next president of the European Commission, Merkel him not to threaten her with the prospect of British exit from the European Union, saying “threats” were not part of the “European spirit” that EU leaders should live up to.
Well at least it all turned out OK in the end. Oh wait...
5) When She Issued A Not-So-Subtle Warning To Trump After His Election Win
Once again putting Theresa May to shame, Merkel issued a carefully-worded response to Trump’s election as US President, taking aim at the divisive rhetoric he used during the campaign.
While Theresa May simply congratulated Trump on his victory, Merkel said she would only offer “close cooperation” dependent on his commitment to equal rights.
The German Chancellor, who has been the driving force behind the EU’s acceptance of hundreds of thousands of refugees, said her relationship with Trump would only succeed if he upheld “the dignity of man, independent of origin”.
She said: “Germany and America are connected by values of democracy, freedom, and respect for the law and the dignity of man, independent of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political views.
“I offer the next President of the United States close cooperation on the basis of these values.”
6) When She Made One Of The Greatest Political Put-Downs In Modern History
In 2007 Vladimir Putin thought he’d try and get one over Merkel by bringing along a large black dog to play on her well-documented fear of the animals (she was bitten as a child).
During the meeting she was visibly nervous but speaking afterwards she said: “I understand why he has to do this, to prove he’s a man.
“He’s afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.”
🔥 🔥 🔥
7) When She Told Us We Can’t ‘Cherry Pick’ A Brexit Deal
In December last year Merkel issued a clear signal that she does not intend to give Britain much leeway in its Brexit negotiations.
The German Chancellor told her party’s conference that Theresa May’s government would need to respect freedom of movement and the single market as it plots to leave the EU.
“We will not allow any cherry picking,” Merkel said to cheers from 1,000 Christian Democrat Union delegates in the western rust belt city of Essen.
“The four basic freedoms must be safeguarded ― freedom of movement for people, goods, services and financial market products. Only then can there be access to the single market,” she added.
Well, we’ve yet to see how this one pans out...