(June 13th, 2016) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on June 10 that implementing the Minsk Agreement to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would end sanctions imposed against Russia for its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and its ongoing attacks on the latter nation’s east.
Mrs. Merkel also said that in the long term, the European Union should aim for a vast common economic zone with Russia extending from Russia’s Pacific coast to Portugal.
“We should move gradually towards this goal,” she said.
The Boston Global Forum last December named Chancellor Merkel a “World Leader for Peace, Security and Development’’.
(May 30th, 2016) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on May 26 that the Group of Seven will not end sanctions on Russia over its involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine and its seizure of Crimea.
“For me it’s too early to give the all clear,” Ms. Merkel said in Japan, where she was attending the G7 Summit.
“There is no change of position to be expected” from the G7, she said. Earlier that day European Council President Donald Tusk, also at the summit, said that the G7 needed to take a “clear and tough stance” toward Russia for its moves in Ukraine — as well as toward China for its controversial claims and militarization in the South China Sea.
“The test of our credibility at the G7 is our ability to defend the common values that we share,” he told reporters at the Japan talks. “This test will only pass if we take a clear and tough stance on every topic of our discussions here.”
Ukraine and its Western allies believe that Russia seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and fomented an insurgency in the country’s east to keep a grip over the former member of the Soviet Union, and especially to prevent it from seeking membership in the European Union and NATO.
( May 2nd, 2016) German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports maintaining steady dialogue with Vladimir Putin’s Russia even as Berlin considers deploying several hundred German troops to Lithuania as part of a NAT0 force of some 1,000 troops there meant to discourage aggression by Russia, which has been stepping up its shows of military force in the Baltic.
The Boston Global Forum has named Mrs. Merkel a “World Leader for Peace, Security and Development.’’
“We must always be prepared to allow for dialogue. I think that is very important.
She said that Germany seeks to strengthen the security of all of NATO’s eastern member states,” Mrs. Merkel said on April 29 in a joint press conference in Berlin with visiting Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, highlighting a stronger German involvement within NATO in Eastern Europe.
The German government, she added, wants a resumption of dialogue within the NATO-Russia Council. In mid-April, the NATO-Russia Council met for the first time in two years to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
(April 18th, 2016) This shows just how much German Chancellor Angela Merkel (and other European leaders) depend on Turkey’s help in helping to stem the flood of refugees into Europe from Syria: Mrs. Merkel is allowing to proceed a criminal investigation of a comic, Jan Bohmermann, for making fun of thin-skinned and increasingly authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
The Boston Global Forum has named Mrs. Merkel as a “World Leader for Peace, Security and Development’’.
The investigation is under a previously little noticed German law that allows prosecution of someone for insulting a foreign leader, but only with the government’s consent.
This now quickly unpopular law would seem fly in the face of freedom of speech in a democracy such as Germany. And so Mrs. Merkel is trying to have it both ways in this case: To allow the investigation while supporting repeal of what is in effect a censorship law.
Many Germans felt that her effort to split the difference showed her blinking in a game of chicken with Mr. Erdogan. “We just experienced the beginning of the end of Chancellorship #Merkel,” wrote another satirist, Oliver Kalkofe. “I am ashamed by the lack of spine.”
The same law had also been used to silence critics of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran and the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
(April 11st, 2016) German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the European Union’s agreement with Turkey aimed at stemming the flood of refugees into Europe from the Mideast.
Before the deal, Mrs. Merkel had been under increasing domestic political pressure, mostly from the right, to tighten the borders.
The Boston Global Forum has named the chancellor a “World Leader for Peace, Security and Development.’’
(March 28th, 2016) Taking second place of the list of 50 of the world’s greatest leaders is German chancellor Ms Merkel, who is currently facing an anti-migrant backlash after hoardes of refugees flooded the borders.
Fortune magazine had named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as number 2 (after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos) on its list of the world’s greatest leaders. The award comes despite the fact that she faces a political backlash because of her government’s acceptance of up to a million migrants over the past year, mostly from the Mideast.
Fortune noted: “She is the only Continental leader whose term in office predates the 2008 financial crisis, a winner of three general elections who has also seen off countless intra-party rivals.”
Aun San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy party in Myanmar, was ranked as third while Pope Francis came in fourth in the list.
Last December, The Boston Global Forum named Chancellor Merkel one of its “World Leaders for Peace, Security and Development’’.
(Jan.31, 2016) – In an effort to placate the increasingly vocal critics of her open-door policy for refugees the German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday at a regional meeting of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that “Once there is peace in Syria again, once IS has been defeated in Iraq, that you go back to your home country with the knowledge that you have gained.”
German chancellor Angela Merkel says refugees will return to their homeland, once the war is over. Photo: Fredrik von Erichsen
The critics come after increasing reports of Crime and security, in particular, a wave of assaults on women in Cologne at New Year celebration by men of north African and Arab appearance.
Merkel also urged the European countries to offer more help to reduce the illegal refugees, according the Reuters.
See more at http://www.smh.com.au/world/germanys-angela-merkel-says-refugees-must-return-home-once-war-over-20160130-gmhu1h.html
The Boston Global Forum is very pleased to have received a message from German Chancellor Angela Merkel thanking the BGF for naming her a “World Leader for Peace, Security and Development’’.
Gov. Michael Dukakis, BGF’s chairman, in announcing the award, said that Chancellor Merkel has “worked tirelessly toward these goals, not only in Germany, but in the European Union and adjoining regions.
“Now in her 10th year as chancellor, she has a legacy few post-war European leaders can match. She has led Germany through its economic recovery, while also holding together the Euro Zone as it faced the danger of default by a member nation. She has led the European response to the crisis in Ukraine, promoting tough sanctions while speaking out against those who would escalate the military conflict.
“Most recently she has led the European response to the {Mideast} refugee crisis and done so by example, opening Germany’s borders and doors to nearly a million asylum seekers.’’
Mr. Ralf Horlemann, consul general in Boston for the Federal Republic of Germany, in expressing the chancellor’s appreciation for the award, told Governor Dukakis:
“It is a great honor to receive the award in recognition of her leadership and contributions to peace and security. The German government will continue to work for a European solution to the challenges of migration and thus contribute to peace and security in Europe and beyond.’’
(BGF) – Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel was awarded the World Leader in Peace, Security and Development for her “exemplary leadership in promoting peace, security, and development not only in Germany but in the EU and adjoining regions” in the Global Cybersecurity Day event which was held on December 12 at Harvard Faculty Club.
Watch full remarks of Governor Dukakis, Chairman and co-founder of Boston Global Forum, in honoring Chancellor Merkel’s achievements here:
Below is the transcript of the remarks:
I am pleased to announce a recipient of this year’s World Leader in Peace, Security, and Development Award—Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The award is given to individuals who display exemplary leadership in promoting peace, security, and development.
Chancellor Merkel has worked tirelessly toward these goals, not only in Germany but in the EU and adjoining regions.
Now in her 10th year as chancellor, she has a legacy few post-war European leaders can match. She has led Germany through its economic recovery, while also holding together the Euro Zone as it faced the danger of default by a member nation. She has led the European response to the crisis in Ukraine, promoting tough sanctions while speaking out against those that would escalate the military conflict.
Most recently, she has led the European response to the refugee crisis and done so by example, opening Germany’s borders and doors to nearly a million asylum seekers. In words addressed to the German people but intended for all of Europe, she said:
“In many regions war and terror prevail. States disintegrate. For many years we have read about this. We have heard about it. We have seen it on TV. But we had not yet sufficiently understood that what happens in Aleppo and Mosul can affect Essen or Stuttgart. We have to face that now.”
Such efforts have put Chancellor Merkel in the forefront among world leaders in advancing the cause of peace, security, and development. The Boston Global Forum is honored to present her this award.
