Angela Merkel Named Time Person of the Year

National security adviser of US President Barack Obama, Susan Rice, praised Merkel and said that “she has demonstrated particularly bold moral and practical leadership on the refugee crisis, welcoming vulnerable migrants despite the political costs”.

Powerful… German Chancellor Angela Merkel is featured as Time’s Person of the Year.

Hailing her leadership, the magazine said it chose the German chancellor for the annual honor because her leadership has helped preserve and promote an open, borderless Europe in the face of economic turmoil and an ongoing refugee crisis. “She also led the West’s response to Vladimir Putin’s creeping theft of Ukraine”.

Angela Merkel has been named “Person of the Year” by Time Magazine, recognising her role in dealing with the European migration crisis and Greek debt.

In a story about one of the runners-up – Trump – Time described the billionaire’s presidential bid as something of a “grim bet” for democracy: “The Trump worldview, the us-against-them bravado that has mobilized a sizable share of the nation, has at its core a zero-sum equation”.

Angela Merkel is the first woman to win the award outright in 29 years, and only the fourth woman since 1927 to be named the victor.

Raised in East Germany, she’s gone from child of the Cold War to champion of the European Union. “You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road”.

The BBC reports Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said he was sure the German leader would cherish the title. In 1999, Time picked the German-born Albert Einstein as Person of the Century.

Other Time Magazine finalists were ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-baghdadi, transgender figure Caitlyn Jenner, Black Lives Matter activists, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate and businessman reality television star.

Donald Trump, who was actually on the cover of Time in August, took the news as an opportunity to disparage Merkel’s leadership on Twitter.