German chancellor1 Angela Merkel celebrated2 10 years in office on Sunday. She is now one of the longest serving chancellors3 in German history, in addition to being the first woman to hold the office.
德国总理安吉拉·默克尔上周日庆祝其在位十周年。她是德国历史上在任时间最长的总理之一，同时也是第一位女总理。
It is her welcoming stance towards this year's
influx4 of refugees that has brought her the most international
acclaim5, as well as intense criticism in Germany.
Angela Merkel took over Germany's top office from Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. She was the first woman to hold the office as well as the first chancellor to have come from the former communist East Germany. When she took over, Germany was in a very different place. Over 5 million people were out of work and many wondered whether Europe's largest economy was headed in the wrong direction.
However, 10 years later, the unemployment rate is half of what it was, and the country is the unquestioned economic and political leader of the European Union. Over the past two years, Merkel has been Europe's key player in trying to
broker6 peace in Ukraine. She also was a central figure in negotiating a controversial third bailout with the Greek government, which allowed that country to stay in the Eurozone.
But perhaps her signature moment of the past 10 years was opening Germany's borders to all those fleeing Syria who have arrived in Germany seeking
asylum7. At a recent congress of her center right party, she
spoke8 of the importance of addressing the root causes of
migration9 and working closely with other countries like Turkey.
"Dear friends, in this way, we can reduce the number of asylum seekers. Not by unilaterally
imposing10 an upper limit nationally on the number of refugees. THAT is in everyone's interest."
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