The " Wise Lady " of Europe retires.

For over a decade Angela Merkel has been the chancellor of Europe's strongest economy and the steadying influence within the EU.  It seems that she has chosen a gradual retirement and a close ally has won leadership of Germany's biggest political party, the CDU.  Merkel will hold the top job until she chooses to relinquish that post, probably before the next election.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenhauer is widely known as " AKK " and is presently the party's general secretary.  Merkel has signalled that she will not contest the next election and it is evident that AKK will have some big shoes to fill.  If she is to become a " Mini Merkel " she will have to establish herself as a clear leader within the body politic of the EU.

These are changing times within Europe.  Britain is on the cusp of leaving the EU and the leadership of many European countries has swung sharply to the right. Germany's close neighbour - Austria - has elected Sebastian Kurz as its Chancellor and at 31 he is the youngest leader to attain that post and he rules in conjunction with the Freedom party, which was founded by unrepentant Nazis in the aftermath of the second world war.

Unfortunately, National Socialism is rising again in Europe.  The far right came close to gaining the presidency in France and several European countries have closed their borders to repel the flood of refugees that have poured ashore in Greece and Italy. The mood has darkened and the traditional political parties that have held sway for many decades are being swept aside as populism takes hold.

Europe is gaining a " fortress  " mentality.   The glorious dream of a Europe where people were free to travel across borders without the need for visas and passports or the need to change currency seems to be fading.  Along with that right to travel was the right to settle and the problem was that migrants mostly wanted to live in prosperous Germany.  Merkel's generosity in throwing open the German door rebounded as refugee hordes threatened to change the German demographic.

It usually takes generations for foreign migrants to fully accustomise in a new country and one of the problems seems to be gaining approval for Islam in mostly Christian Europe.  The fact that an extreme branch of Islam has resorted to terrorist atrocities in western countries has diluted acceptance of the peaceful majority who simply want to practice their religion in peace.

The aftermath of recession has seen a jobs shortage in many countries and refugees are blamed for taking jobs and depressing wages.  This hostility is encouraging populist political parties to emerge to fan the flames of resentment and in some countries this has brought illiberal regimes to power. In many cases, justice and law and order are being erased in favour of radical anti refugee legislation. The principles of democracy are being set aside.

There is great danger awaiting if we slip into another severe recession.  Those were the conditions that resulted in the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930's when decent people could see no other alternative to the chaos that was happening.   Populism has a siren call when it offers an easy answer to an otherwise intractable problem.