Time announces “Person of the Year” German Chancellor chosen Angela Merkel 4th woman since 1927 1st German since 1970 News met with fury in Greece
- Time announces “Person of the Year”
- German Chancellor chosen
- Angela Merkel 4th woman since 1927
- 1st German since 1970
- News met with fury in Greece
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There has been mixed reaction in Europe to the news that Angela Merkel has been named Time Magazine’s person of the year.
The magazine says the German Chancellor has been chosen because of the leadership she showed in the way she reacted to various European crises in 2015.
Editor
nancygibbs</a> on why TIME chose Angela Merkel as Person of the Year <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TIMEPOY?src=hash">#TIMEPOY</a> <a href="https://t.co/xpENei6hxm">https://t.co/xpENei6hxm</a></p>— TIME.com (TIME) December 9, 2015
Take a look back at the events that made Angela Merkel TIME's Person of the Year https://t.co/5YQQFo2Y3A
https://t.co/9rRcGGeIqN— TIME.com (@TIME) December 9, 2015
“You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road.” #TIMEPOY #AngelaMerkel https://t.co/QcPSTSlFsH
— Radhika Jones (@radhikajones) December 9, 2015
“She has steered Europe through serial debt crises. But this year, most prominently for us, she led the way on Europe’s policy towards refugees and migrants from Syria and other troubled parts of the world and has set an example of moral leadership that we wanted to spotlight” said Time’s Deputy Managing Editor, Radhika Jones.
Why did Merkel get the award?
Time Magazine says the German Chancellor has been chosen because of the way she reacted to various European crises in 2015.
It praised her for her leadership on everything from the migrant and refugee crisis to the severe problems caused by Greek debt.
Time also cited Merkel’s strong response to what it described as “Vladimir Putin’s creeping theft of Ukraine” and, on its cover, called her “Chancellor of the Free World.”
Firsts
See every Person of the Year cover ever #TIMEPOY https://t.co/oTk88ZCsWh pic.twitter.com/IlgfK4h84w
— TIME.com (@TIME) December 9, 2015
The 61-year-old is only the fourth woman since 1927 to be chosen and the first since opposition leader Corazon C.Aquino of the Philippines in 1986.
See all the past women named TIME’s Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/v8XT2KmGC6 pic.twitter.com/zRdYZHtEtt
— TIME.com (@TIME) December 9, 2015
She is the first German since Willy Brandt, the West German chancellor named in 1970 for “seeking to bring about a fresh relationship between East and West” during the Cold War.
German-born Albert Einstein was chosen as Person of the Century in 1999.
“Disaster of the Year”
The news has been welcomed by some in Germany. “I think it is super,” said a man outside Leipzig railway station where Angela Merkel was inaugurating a new traing. “It is great how she makes her way in a man’s world and defends her political interests worldwide.”
However, the reaction has been more negative in Greece. “She may be woman of the year for Europe and the world in general, but for us she is disaster of the year. I don’t think she is a person of honour for us” said a woman in Syntagma Square in Athens.
The competition
Exclusive: Donald Trump talks immigration, terrorism and his campaign’s future https://t.co/iyX825KHYE pic.twitter.com/BmJwS7K43A
— TIME.com (@TIME) December 9, 2015
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is #2 on TIME’s Person of the Year shortlist #TIMEPOY https://t.co/HUzmOhQhoK pic.twitter.com/1ODtyH5jSY
— TIME.com (@TIME) December 9, 2015
See a stunning portrait of
Caitlyn_Jenner</a> <a href="https://t.co/RYak6yLwjW">https://t.co/RYak6yLwjW</a> <a href="https://t.co/2ldFMGGV5C">pic.twitter.com/2ldFMGGV5C</a></p>— TIME.com (TIME) December 9, 2015
Time’s seven other finalists for 2015 included Donald Trump, IS Group leader Abu Bakr al’Baghdadi, the Black Lives Matter protest movement and Caitlyn Jenner.