iconimg Saturday, December 21, 2013  Agence France-Presse
Berlin, September 01, 2013 Chancellor Angela Merkel, the
unassuming German proclaimed Europe's most influential leader
and the world's most powerful woman, inspires a heady mix of
admiration, derision and fear. After eight years at the helm of
the top European economy, and three as the go-to leader in the
eurozone crisis, Merkel looks set to sail to a third term in the
September 22 German general election on the back of her enormous
popularity among voters. Meanwhile abroad, angry protesters have
marched through the streets of Athens, Lisbon and Madrid blaming
her for budget cuts they say are choking off desperately needed
economic growth, some even brandishing caricatures of Merkel in
Nazi garb. Yet few deny that any solutions are, for now,
impossible without the 59-year-old woman nicknamed "Mutti" or
mum in Germany. "I am determined to see Europe emerge stronger
from the crisis," she intones regularly. "Germany can only be
strong with a strong Europe