Merkel is 70 years old. Most Germans are nostalgic for her, but Putin didn’t even congratulate her this time

Angela Merkel is 70 years old. According to the results of a survey conducted by the public opinion research institute YouGov, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the ex-chancellor, the majority of German residents - more than 60% - believe that living conditions in Germany have worsened since Angela Merkel left the post of federal chancellor in 2021.

_{According to the survey, 61% of respondents are nostalgic for the times of Merkel. Only 7% of respondents noted that living conditions improved after her departure. Another 25% of Germans indicated that everything remained at about the same level.}

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube и Max.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

At the same time, sociologists found that the majority of those who believe that living conditions have worsened blame the current German government led by Olaf Scholz (28%).

At the same time, 15% of survey participants attribute the deterioration to external factors. More than half of respondents refer to both factors.

This is despite the fact that Germany went through two major crises under Angela Merkel, and the former chancellor is still criticized, including for her dependence on Russian energy resources.

The survey was conducted from June 28 to July 3. 2 people took part in it.

And in Germany, they also noticed that this time Russian President Vladimir Putin did not congratulate Merkel on her anniversary , although he had excellent personal and even friendly relations with her while she was chancellor.

Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, when asked whether Vladimir Putin would congratulate the former German chancellor on his anniversary, replied, "As far as I know, there are no plans to do so."

_{The last time Angela Merkel called Putin was shortly before her resignation at the end of 2021, the dpa agency recalls. According to Peskov, there has been no communication in recent years.}

During her tenure in power from 2005 to 2021, Merkel met with Putin approximately 30 times. Critics in Germany accuse Merkel of being too soft on Russia and continuing to strengthen economic ties with Moscow, despite Germany's growing dependence on Russian energy and, since 2014, the war in Donbas.

True, after the start of the SVO, Merkel still condemned what happened, but she did so as a political retiree. At the same time, she defended the Minsk agreements and her role as one of their guarantors.

“She was the most powerful woman in Europe. And then she suddenly disappeared. Fortunately, say many in her party. The new party leadership is correcting the old course: to the right. But whether the era of Angela Merkel has really ended will become clear only when her CDU party rules the country again,” the German publication Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote on the occasion of Merkel’s anniversary.