Foreign policy of the Angela Merkel government

This article is part of a series about Angela Merkel
MdB for Vorpommern-Rügen – Vorpommern-Greifswald I Christian Democratic Union of Germany Merkel-Raute Revolution of 1989 Democratic Awakening 1990 East German election German reunification Kohl government Minister for Women and Youth Minister for the Environment Leader of the Christian Democratic Union CDU donations scandal 2005 election First ministry and term First Merkel cabinet EU Council presidency 33rd G8 summit Treaty of Lisbon Berlin Declaration Financial crisis Stimulus plan 2009 election Second ministry and term Second Merkel cabinet 2010 presidential election Health care reform Energiewende European debt crisis European Banking Supervision Bundeswehr reform NSA surveillance 2013 election Third ministry and term Third Merkel cabinet Crimean conflict Normandy format 41st G7 summit European migrant crisis Willkommenskultur 2017 G20 Hamburg summit 2017 election Fourth ministry and term Fourth Merkel cabinet CDU leadership election COVID-19 pandemic 2021 floods Family Foreign policy Public image Awards and honours
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The foreign policy of the Angela Merkel government has been the foreign policy of Germany when Merkel was in office as Chancellor of Germany from November 2005 to December 2021. During Merkel's chancellorship, Merkel has personally been highly active in the field of the foreign policy. She named Frank-Walter Steinmeier to serve as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009; the office was subsequently held by Guido Westerwelle from 2009 to 2013, and again by Steinmeier from 2013. He was succeeded by Sigmar Gabriel in 2017, who was himself succeeded by Heiko Maas in 2018.

Merkel has emphasized international cooperation, both in the context of the European Union and NATO. Merkel played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. Merkel played a crucial role in managing the financial crisis at the European and international level.

Merkel has been widely described as the de facto leader of the European Union throughout her tenure as Chancellor. Merkel has twice been named the world's second most powerful person by Forbes magazine, the highest ranking ever achieved by a woman.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} In December 2015, Merkel was named as Time magazine's Person of the Year, with the magazine's cover declaring her to be the "Chancellor of the Free World."^[6] On 26 March 2014, Merkel became the longest-serving incumbent head of government in the European Union and she is currently the senior G7 leader. In May 2016, Merkel was named the most powerful woman in the world for a record tenth time by Forbes.^[7] In 2016 Merkel was described by The New York Times as "the Liberal West's Last Defender"^[8] and by Timothy Garton Ash as "the leader of the free world."^[9] Following the announcement that Merkel will run for a fourth term as Chancellor, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Norbert Röttgen has said that Merkel desires to hold "the liberal order, in the trans-Atlantic area, together" and that "the Chancellor is a cornerstone of [the] political concept of the West as acting as a global player."^[10]