Europe | Charlemagne

Waiting for Angela

The German chancellor has big decisions to make in Europe, but will take her time

AROUND Europe, they sit and wait for Angela. They waited for her to fight her election campaign. Now they must wait for her to form a coalition. Eurocrats draft papers, crunch numbers and muse about the future of Europe. They look in their hats. But there is nothing to be done until Angela Merkel comes. Triumphantly returned as Germany’s chancellor, Mrs Merkel has already said her European policy will not change. So what are they asking for? A bit like Vladimir and Estragon in “Waiting for Godot”, theirs is “a kind of prayer…a vague supplication” that Mrs Merkel do more to end Europe’s misery.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Waiting for Angela”

The new face of terror

From the September 28th 2013 edition

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