… naysayers are wrong to suggest she has lost her way on migration. Quite the opposite.

During the crisis the Lutheran pastor’s daughter has found a forceful political and moral calling.

Mrs Merkel did not cause the onrush of migrants, as her critics maintain. The migrants were coming anyway: she acted to avert a humanitarian disaster. Fences will not hold back the flow. Mrs Merkel can neither stop the wars that drive people out of their homes nor set the policies of the countries they pass through. Her critics offer no plausible alternative.

Short of overturning international and European law, and watching refugees drown or die of exposure, EU countries must process the claims of asylum-seekers. The question is: will the process be orderly or chaotic? …

The indispensable European

Angela Merkel faces her most serious political challenge yet. But Europe needs her more than ever

Forbes – The World’s Most Powerful People – #2 Angela Merkel