this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2025
50 points (94.6% liked)

Europe

7770 readers
647 users here now

News and information from Europe πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
  10. Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.

(This list may get expanded as necessary.)

Posts that link to the following sources will be removed

Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media (incl. Substack). Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com

(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)

Ban lengths, etc.

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 12 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] jjpamsterdam@feddit.org 38 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Maybe it's because I'm a foreigner living in Germany, but from what I gather few people really want to see her back in power. If anything, it's more of a longing for a bygone era where stability and the international set of rules many had grown up with still applied.

Personally I believe her reign was one of the worst things to happen to Germany in my lifetime. For 16 years nothing really changed, unless her hand was forced. One of the very few unambiguously positive and lasting changes during her reign was marriage equality - which she personally voted against in parliament.

[–] richardwonka@mas.to 14 points 3 days ago

@jjpamsterdam i believe this is just why some people have this rose-tinted view of her.

Germans are afraid of change - unless they have been exposed to actual cultural exchange (No, ten days Ballermann doesn’t count) - and call it stability in order to give it a positive twist.

Merkel gave them/us just that - inertia.

[–] Dekkia@this.doesnotcut.it 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)

As a german I'd rather have her back than continue having Friedrich Merz.

No change is better than change for the worse.

Of course I'd like it even more if we had someone willing to make changes while also caring about people.

[–] Enkrod@feddit.org 7 points 3 days ago

If only we had a Social Democratic Party :⁻[

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Oh hell no. Merkel was 16 whole years of missed opportunities and messing up the future. The very same future weβ€˜re living in right now. The only politician I feel nostalgic about is Habeck because he was the only minister I remember who took his job seriously.

[–] jjpamsterdam@feddit.org 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Habeck is a missed opportunity, indeed. It wasn't wise of the Greens to naminate Baerbock at the time. She was the weaker of the two candidates. Against the weak opponents (Scholz and Laschet) Habeck might just have had a chance.

[–] Fusselwurm@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

idk, Merz was a weak opponent, too. He kind of coasted to victory only due to the extreme unpopularity of the Scholz coalition government.

[–] jjpamsterdam@feddit.org 4 points 3 days ago

True, but the Greens, Habeck's party, was not exactly at peak popularity any more at that time. During the previous election cycle it looked like the Greens might eclipse the Social Democrats and the Conservatives. With a stronger overall candidate like Habeck that lead may have resulted in an election victory, but that's pure speculation on my end tbh.

[–] JensSpahnpasta@feddit.org 4 points 3 days ago

Yeah - many of those problems now have their roots in the Merkel era and Merkel & the CDU did nothing to solve them. Those ignored problems are now coming into the daylight and it's ugly

[–] einkorn@feddit.org 12 points 3 days ago

A quote loosely based on Vladimir Putin:

Who doesn't miss Mutti has no heart. Who wants her back has no sense.

[–] murvel@feddit.nu 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

We got such wonderful things from the Germans during Merkel, like for example: Nordstream, Ostpolitik (buddy Putin), Replacing Nuclear with coal, Nordstream 2.

Just a disgraceful legacy. And we have to live with it now.

[–] pix_wbmr@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

Exactly. I'm not hating her, but the decissions she made were pretty damn stupid, thinking back now

A lot of countries warned germany after crimea was taken, but she didn't listen sadly