President Barroso congratulates German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her re-election
Today, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, sent a message of congratulations to Dr Angela Merkel, who was re-elected by the Bundestag as Federal Chancellor of Germany. In his message President Barroso qualifies her re-election as "both an endorsement of your past efforts and a signal of confidence for the coming years."
He underlines that "Germany and the European Union jointly face the challenge of pursuing the course of consolidation and reform" and highlights the "impressive efforts to counter the crisis" whose fruits "are already clearly visible and confirm that we are on the right track." President Barroso expresses confidence that "we now have the great opportunity to truly put this crisis behind us by generating sustainable growth and at the same time giving the European Union and the Eurozone in particular a credible and effective armoury against future risks. Not least with an eye to the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament in May 2014 we will, in this way, be sending out a clear signal on the side of responsibility and solidarity and against populism and irrationality."
Read President's full message
Read President's full message in German.