German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeals to the public spirit in her own country and evokes the idea of a stronger EU in her New Year's address. Her answer to international crises: greater responsibility for Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AFP/J. MacDougal
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Merkel: We must work together
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In her traditional New Year's address, Germany's chancellor first directs her words at the people in her own country: "My fellow citizens." Yet these words should also be listened to attentively beyond Germany's borders. When Angela Merkel takes stock of what she sees as an "extremely difficult political year," she does so from two perspectives: national and international.
The chancellor begins her speech with an inward look at the long and difficult process of forming a government after the 2017 federal elections. The process lasted six months and even after it was formed, "there was contention and we were highly preoccupied with ourselves." Merkel, a member of the Christian Democrats (CDU), does not mention any examples. But two are memorable: the constant disputes with Interior Minister Horst Seehofer from the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and spats with the Social Democrats (SPD), her coalition partners. Most of them were over Germany's migration policy.
Ministers under Merkel: Germany's new government
The conservative CDU and CSU formed a "grand coalition" government with the center-left SPD in March 2018. DW takes a look at who's who in Chancellor Angela Merkel's fourth Cabinet.
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Chancellor: Angela Merkel (CDU)
Christian Democrat (CDU) Angela Merkel is Germany's chancellor. She is in her fourth term as leader of the German government and in her third at the head of a "grand coalition" between the CDU, its conservative Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democrats (SPD). Merkel says she will not run for chancellor at the next general election in 2021.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Minister of the Interior, Heimat and Construction: Horst Seehofer (CSU)
Seehofer was Bavaria's state premier until he took over the interior portfolio in Merkel's Cabinet. This will be the first time that the vaguely patriotic "Heimat" concept (roughly "homeland") is included in the interior minister's domain. Bavaria, however, has had a state Heimat Ministry for five years. Seehofer remains head of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria.
Image: Reuters/M. Rehle
Minister for Foreign Affairs: Heiko Maas (SPD)
Former Justice Minister Heiko Maas succeeded his Social Democrat colleague, Sigmar Gabriel, as foreign minister in March. Maas was in charge of the Justice Ministry when the government passed a controversial internet law to combat hate speech online.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler
Finance Minister: Olaf Scholz (SPD)
Scholz served as mayor of Hamburg before moving to Berlin to take the reins at the Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry's capture was a significant win for the SPD. Scholz will also serve as vice-chancellor. He had been in Merkel's Cabinet once before, as minister of labor and social affairs from 2007 to 2009.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Sabrowsky
Minister of Defense: Ursula von der Leyen (CDU)
Von der Leyen has been defense minister since 2013 and kept her job in the new government. This comes despite numerous scandals within the Bundeswehr, Germany's military, that broke since she took over the Defense Ministry. Her relationship with the troops suffered, but Merkel trusts her.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Lübke
Economic and Energy Affairs Minister: Peter Altmaier (CDU)
Altmaier was Merkel's chief of staff at the Chancellery before his nomination to take over the Economy Ministry. The last time a CDU politician was in the post was half a century before. Altmaier is regarded as extremely loyal to the chancellor.
Image: Getty Images/M. Tantussi
Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection: Katarina Barley (SPD)
Katarina Barley took over as justice minister after serving as both minister of family affairs and labor in the previous government. The 49-year-old is a lawyer by training and holds both British and German citizenship.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs: Hubertus Heil (SPD)
Hubertus Heil succeeded Andrea Nahles, who stepped down to take over as head of the SPD. A member of the Bundestag since 1998, Heil has twice served as the party's secretary general.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Minister for the Environment: Svenja Schulze (SPD)
Svenja Schulze replaced party colleague Barbara Hendricks, Germany's former minister for the environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety, in March. Schulze previously served as minister for innovation, science and research in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R.Vennenbernd
Minister for Health: Jens Spahn (CDU)
Jens Spahn, 37, is representative of a new political generation within the CDU and seen as a future contender for party leadership. In the last government, he served as the parliamentary state secretary in the Finance Ministry. Prior to that, he helped lead the CDU's health policy in the Bundestag.
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Minister of Education and Research: Anja Karliczek (CDU)
Anja Karliczek, a former hotel manager who is relatively unknown, was nominated by Merkel to take over the Education Ministry. She had a lot of money to spend: The ministry's budget was increased by €11 billion ($13.6 billion) to pay for school and university improvements shortly before her appointment.
Image: imago/M. Popow
Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth: Franziska Giffey (SPD)
Franziska Giffey's elevation from the mayor of Berlin's Neukölln district to cabinet minister was perhaps one of the most eye-catching appointments. Giffey bypassed the Bundestag altogether to ascend into government. But the SPD leadership believed her experience in charge of what has often been described as Berlin's "troubled" district made her the most suitable candidate for the role.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development: Gerd Müller (CSU)
Gerd Müller, 62, retained his post as development minister, which he has held since December 2013. He won the job over fellow CSU member Dorothee Bär, who was also in the running. Bär became the state minister for digital affairs in the chancellery, a newly created job.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure: Andreas Scheuer (CSU)
Scheuer, considered a close ally of CSU party head Seehofer, took over the Transport Ministry from party colleague Alexander Dobrindt. He is experienced in the field: From 2009 to 2013, he was parliamentary state secretary in the Transport Ministry. Prior to his latest appointment, he was the CSU's secretary general.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Minister for Food and Agriculture: Julia Klöckner (CDU)
Klöckner previously worked as parliamentary state secretary in the Agriculture Ministry from 2009 to 2011. Between her ministerial stints in Berlin, she was deputy chair of the CDU and headed the CDU in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
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Chief of Staff at the Chancellery: Helge Braun (CDU)
Helge Braun took over from CDU colleague Peter Altmaier as Chancellery head in March. He had previously served in deputy positions in the Chancellery and Education Ministry.
But Merkel does not want the tense climate within the coalition to be understood as the reason for her intention to step down as chancellor at the end of this legislative period in 2021. She says she would have done so "irrespective of how dissatisfying the past year has been." Her long tenure in office, which has lasted 13 years, is "reason enough." "We build on what our predecessors have left us, and we shape the present for those who will come after us," she says. "Democracy thrives on change," she says.
Merkel is convinced that the challenges of the time can only be mastered "if we hold together and if we work with others across boundaries and borders." These challenges include not only the "vital question of climate change," but also migration and the fight against international terrorism. "We all want to resolve these questions in our own interest, and we can best do so if we also consider the interests of others."
Germany's role in the United Nations Security Council
However, a willingness to accept the many challenges is shrouded by doubt. Merkel says the traditional certainties of international cooperation have come under pressure. Again, she gives no examples. But there is no question that this includes nationalist politics on both sides of the Atlantic. Her conclusion: "In such a situation, we must stand up more for our convictions; we must argue and fight for them."
Merkel’s Successor: Next German Chancellor?
26:03
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Referring to Germany's seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council, which will start on January 1 and is limited to two years, Merkel says Germany will advocate for global solutions. "We are further increasing our funding for humanitarian aid and development assistance, but also our defense spending." Germany will also work to make the European Union (EU) "more robust and more capable" and seek to maintain a "close partnership" with the United Kingdom despite its planned withdrawal from the EU. The chancellor also called on Germans to help keep the EU "a project of peace, prosperity and security" as the bloc prepares for European elections in May.
'Openness, tolerance and respect'
Toward the end of her address, Merkel once again looks inwards. Working toward the goal of "equal living conditions," she says the German government wants "everyone to be provided with good access to education, housing and health care." It is, she says, trying to find the "best substantive solutions" to those problems.
"Ever more frequently, however, we are also contending for our way of living together and for our values of openness, tolerance and respect." Merkel is worried about the political climate in Germany, which became harsher in 2018. Yet she remains confident: "Good new things can arise when we believe in our values and implement our ideas vigorously."
