Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is among the first recipients of the new European Order of Merit, an award granted by the European Parliament for contributions to European integration, democracy, and European values. Volodymyr Zelensky and Lech Wałęsa are in the same group of recipients, giving the ceremony powerful symbolism — but also bringing Merkel’s controversial decisions on Russia, migration, and European crises back into the spotlight.
For her supporters, she was a leader who kept the European Union stable through the debt crisis, Brexit, the pandemic, and years of political turbulence. For her critics, Merkel remains a symbol of a policy that too often bought time, delayed difficult decisions, and allowed problems to ripen into full-blown crises.
The harshest criticism is linked to Russia. During her tenure, Germany deepened its energy dependence on Russian gas, and her approach to Vladimir Putin is today regarded as one of Europe’s greatest strategic mistakes. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that policy came under intense scrutiny once again — particularly because Merkel has not publicly shown any serious remorse for the course she pursued toward Moscow.
Her name also remains tied to the 2015 migration crisis. The decision to allow Germany to accept large numbers of refugees was seen by some as a humanitarian act, and by others as the beginning of deep political divisions across Europe. That crisis fuelled Euroscepticism, opened the door to the rise of right-wing parties, and left lasting consequences on European politics.
