Speaking at the annual conference of the Christian Democrats (CDU) party, German Chancellor Angela Merkel singled out her Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble for praise over his role in the Greek crisis during the last few months.
“Until the end of June – beginning of July we had the negotiations with the Greek government. It was a crucial test for us and the eurozone as a whole. In the end our Finance Minister played a decisive role as he was continuously pressing for a program that would be based on the criteria that were, and continue to be, important for us: No aid without conditionality. Responsibility and solidarity go together and it must remain this way. Wholehearted thanks to Wolfgang Schaeuble” she specifically stated. Those present seemed to get excited with this specific reference to the German Finance Minister and reacted with a long warm applause.
Merkel also promised to substantially reduce the number of immigrants entering Germany stressing though that “this challenge is enormous.”
She told her center-right CDU party that her decision in August to welcome the refugees fleeing war and deprivation in the Middle East was a “humanitarian imperative,” but she also vowed to stem the flow.
“Germany should be a country that is open, curious, tolerant and exciting,” Merkel said, painting a vision for the future and stressing how far the country had come since she took power a decade ago.
Merkel, received a five-minute standing ovation at the end of her speech with the German media stating that this was the most important speech of her career.
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