FT年度人物 默克爾 Person of the Year: Angela Merkel
Days after returning from difficult negotiations over a third Greek debt bailout, Angela Merkel met a group of school children in the northern city of Rostock.
結束了艱難的第三次希臘債務紓困談判幾天後，安格拉默克爾(Angela Merkel)會晤了來自北部城市羅斯托克(Rostock)的一羣中學生。
With the cameras rolling, a 14-year-old Palestinian girl named Reem Sahwil told Ms Merkel that she feared being sent back to a refugee camp in Lebanon if her family’s asylum application was rejected. “I don’t know what my future looks like as long as I don’t know if I can stay,” she told Ms Merkel in perfect German. “I’d like to go to college. That is really a … goal I’d like to achieve.”
在攝像機鏡頭前，14歲的巴勒斯坦女孩裏姆薩維爾(Reem Sahwil)對默克爾表示她很害怕，如果家人的庇護申請被駁回，她就會被遣返黎巴嫩的難民營。裏姆用流利的德語對默克爾說：“只要我還不知道自己能不能留下來，我就不知道自己的將來會怎麼樣。我想上大學，我真的想實現這個目標。”
Ms Merkel responded with a lesson in political realities. “We can’t just say, ‘You can all come. And all of you in Africa can come.’ We can’t manage that,” she said. Ms Sahwil broke down in tears. A video of the moment went viral, leaving an impression that the German chancellor could be cold, even mean.
默克爾給這位女孩上了一堂政治現實課，她說：“我們不能乾脆地說，‘你們都可以來，非洲的所有人也可以來。’我們應付不了這麼多人。”裏姆薩維爾聞言泣不成聲。這段視頻在網上遭到瘋轉，它給人們留下了這樣一種印象：這位德國總理是可以擺出冷漠甚至小氣姿態的。
Yet only a few weeks later, the woman who had failed to console one refugee was embracing hundreds of thousands.
然而就在幾個星期後，這位連一名難民都無法安慰的女性，接納了幾十萬難民。
Instead of jumping to protect Germany’s frontiers from a wave of Syrian refugees, as many conservatives wanted, she pledged to shelter anyone from the war-torn country. Her “refugees welcome” message spread like wildfire. On social media, Syrians shared images of Ms Merkel bearing the words “we love you”. A burst of euphoria broke out, with Germans rushing to help the influx of refugees.
默克爾沒有如許多保守派所期盼的那樣，立即採取措施保衛德國邊境，不讓大量敘利亞難民涌入，反而承諾要向來自這個戰火紛飛的國家的任何人提供庇護。默克爾“歡迎難民”的消息不脛而走。敘利亞人在社交媒體上紛紛轉發默克爾的照片，配的文字是“我們愛你”。一時間引得羣情振奮，德國民衆搶着向涌入的難民伸出援手。
In a matter of weeks, Ms Merkel had been transformed in the eyes of the world and her fellow Germans. The cautious, “step-by-step” chancellor who had led Germany for a decade was gone, replaced by a politician with bold convictions. It was a big gambit, and it is far from clear whether it will pay off.
短短几個星期裏，默克爾轉變了她在世界和德國人眼中的形象。領導德國十年的那個謹慎、“步步爲營”的總理不見了，取而代之的是一位信念堅定、敢於拍板的政治人物。默克爾走出了重要的一步棋子，目前還不清楚結果將會如何。
If it does, however, it will cement her reputation as one of Germany’s great chancellors. By keeping Europe’s doors open for more than 1m mostly Muslim refugees, Ms Merkel will leave a legacy as enduring as her mentor, former chancellor Helmut Kohl, who presided over German reunification and the birth of the euro. For this reason, the Financial Times has named Angela Merkel its 2015 Person of the Year.
如果取得成功，那將夯實默克爾作爲德國最偉大總理之一的聲譽。通過向100多萬難民（大部分爲穆斯林）敞開歐洲大門，默克爾將留下一份持久的政治遺產，就像她的導師、德國前總理赫爾穆特科爾(Helmut Kohl)一樣——科爾主持了兩德統一，還推動了歐元誕生。基於這一理由，英國《金融時報》評選安格拉默克爾爲2015年年度人物。
Much of the initial feeling of goodwill has worn off, and she has been the target of harsh criticism from within her own CDU party for allowing a tide of refugees into the country. Jens Spahn, deputy finance minister, says: “We are living through a disruption of our state.”
但在眼下，德國民衆最初的善意已基本耗盡，默克爾所屬的基民盟(CDU)也嚴厲批評她允許大批難民涌入德國。德國財政部副部長延斯施潘(Jens Spahn)表示：“我們的國家正遭受破壞。”
Wolfgang Germany’s finance minister, compared her to a “careless skier” who risked causing “an avalanche”. So why did a politician known for her caution make a decision that could consume her? Allies say the 61-year-old chancellor was driven by her Christian principles, belief in the positive effects of migration — and concern that the crisis could tear Europe apart.
德國財長沃爾夫岡朔伊布勒(Wolfgang )將默爾克比作一個“粗心大意的滑雪者”，一不小心就會引發“雪崩”。那麼，爲什麼一個以謹慎著稱的政治人物會作出一個可能毀掉自己的決定呢？盟友們表示，驅動這位61歲的德國總理的因素包括：她本人的基督教原則，對於移民將帶來正面影響的信念，以及對這場危機可能撕裂歐洲的擔憂。
To her supporters, this is strong, moral leadership at a time when most global politics is dominated by short-term calculation. But to her critics, she has been rash, arrogant and self-righteous. The truth is different, says a close aide: “She is neither the white witch nor Mother Teresa.”
對默克爾的支持者來說，在全球政壇基本被短期利益主導的當下，她展現了強大的、道德的領導力。但在默克爾的反對者看來，她的行爲輕率、傲慢、自以爲是。默克爾身邊的一位助理表示，這兩邊其實都錯了：“她既不是白袍女巫，也不是特蕾莎修女。”
Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban, a vocal opponent of the refugee policy, has accused Ms Merkel of “moral imperialism”. He meant it as an insult, but for the chancellor it was unintended praise. She is seeking to impose her values, and has said as much: “If we now have to start apologising for showing a friendly face in response to emergency situations, then this is not my country.”
匈牙利總理維克托歐爾班(Viktor Orban)對默克爾的難民政策明確表示反對，指控默克爾是“道德帝國主義”。此言本意是要羞辱默克爾，但對於這位德國總理而言，這是一句意料外的讚美。她正是要將自己的價值觀強加於事態，而且她就是這麼表態的：“如果我們現在必須開始爲以友善態度應對緊急情況道歉，那麼這不是我的國家。”
Measured steps
步步爲營
Biographers trace her famous prudence to her upbringing in Communist East Germany, where her Lutheran pastor father encouraged his children to think freely but keep their opinions to themselves. “Learning to keep quiet was a great advantage in the DDR period,” the chancellor once said.
傳記作者認爲，默克爾出名的審慎可以追溯到她在共產黨統治的東德的成長經歷。默克爾的父親是一個路德派牧師，他鼓勵子女自由思考，但不要說出來。默克爾曾說：“在東德時期，學會保持沉默是一大優勢。”
She played by the rules, working hard at school, joining the Free German Youth (young Communists) and mastering Russian, unlike some students who did poorly in the language as a protest against Soviet rule. Her Stasi report noted that she saw the Soviet Union as “a dictator” but was enthused by Russian language and culture. Stefan Kornelius, a biographer, writes that much of the mystery about Ms Merkel lies in the 35 years she spent in this “completely alien other world”.
默克爾秉持着父親的這些教誨，她在學校時十分用功，還加入了自由德國青年團（Free German Youth，有共產主義信仰的青年組成的團體）。默克爾還精通俄語，不像某些學生爲表示對蘇聯統治的抗議，故意不好好學俄語。前東德國家安全部(Stasi)存檔的默克爾檔案指出，她視蘇聯爲“獨裁者”，但熱衷於俄羅斯的語言和文化。傳記作家斯蒂凡柯內琉斯(Stefan Kornelius)寫道，圍繞默克爾的很多神祕感，都起源於她在“完全陌生的另一個世界”度過的那35年。
When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, she did not rush to the western half, but kept an appointment to accompany a friend to the sauna. However, she went a few hours later, and again the following day. “The yearning for freedom cannot be contained by walls for long,” she said later. Like many east Germans, she relished the newfound freedom to travel, having only made one trip to the west as an adult. Unlike others, she did not devote herself to touring the world. She was also a woman in a hurry.
1989年柏林牆倒塌的那一刻，她並沒有立即衝向西德，而是如約與一名朋友去洗桑拿。不過幾小時後她就去了西德，第二天她又去了一次。默克爾後來說：“高牆無法長久地阻擋人們對自由的嚮往。”像許多東德人一樣，她珍視新得到的旅行自由，在此之前，她在成年後只去過一次西德。但與其他人不同的是，她並沒有到世界各地旅遊。畢竟，她是一個事務繁多的女性。
After years as a professional physicist, she leapt into politics. Within months she was a government spokesman and, soon afterwards, a minister in Mr Kohl’s cabinet. And she was ruthless: when Mr Kohl became embroiled in a party funding scandal, she turned on her mentor and grabbed his job as party leader.
在從事了多年物理學研究後，默克爾投身政壇。短短几個月內，她就當上了政府發言人，而且很快成了科爾內閣的一名部長。當科爾捲入政黨獻金醜聞時，默克爾展現了堅決無情的一面，她與自己這位導師劃清了界線，奪走了他的黨魁職位。
Later, she rediscovered the virtues of prudence. She ran for chancellor in 2005 against the unpopular incumbent, social democrat Gerhard Schr攙攀爀, on a platform urging liberal economic reforms — and almost lost. She vowed never again to run ahead of her voters.
後來默克爾又重新發現了審慎的好處。2005年她競選德國總理，她的對手是人氣不高的時任總理、社會民主黨人格哈德施羅德(Gerhard Schr攙攀爀)，當時默克爾以敦促德國推行自由化經濟改革爲競選平臺，結果險些失利。她發誓再也不超前於選民的願望。
Instead, she consolidated power by pushing her conservative CDU/CSU bloc into the middle ground and winning three elections. Her few reforms — notably accelerating the phase-out of nuclear power after Japan’s Fukushima disaster — meshed with public opinion.
相反，她推動保守派的基民盟/基社盟(CDU/CSU)聯盟向中間立場靠攏，贏得了三次選舉，從而鞏固了權力。她爲數不多的改革也與民意契合，尤其是在日本福島核電站事故後加快淘汰本國核電。
Ms Merkel has been doggedly patient in dealing with the biggest recent threat to European security — the re-emergence of Russia. She has talked for hours to President Vladimir Putin in Russian, even as other western leaders shunned him over his annexation of Crimea. She has managed to contain the Ukraine conflict and keep the EU united on economic sanctions against Russia.
在與重新崛起的俄羅斯——歐洲安全近年最大的威脅——打交道時，默克爾既堅定又耐心。她曾用俄語同俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾渠京(Vladimir Putin)進行長達幾小時的交談，即便其他西方領導人因普京吞併克里米亞而避開他。默克爾一邊成功管控了烏克蘭衝突，一邊保持了歐盟在對俄經濟制裁問題上的團結。
Obsessive approach
執意前行
In the eurozone crisis, she provoked international criticism with her tough approach to Greece and other indebted states, though her party wanted the chancellor to take a harder line. In southern Europe she was condemned as an overbearing debt-collector. But much of northern Europe, and the German public, backed her stance.
在歐元區危機中，默克爾對希臘及其他負債國家的強硬策略引發了國際社會的批評，儘管她所在的政黨希望她採取更強硬的立場。在南歐，她被譴責爲專橫的討債人。但歐洲北部大部分國家和德國公衆支持她的立場。
All the while she took care not to disturb German voters’ well-upholstered lifestyles. Largely avoiding her pre-2005 liberal rhetoric, Ms Merkel developed a way of reassuring the public by saying as little as possible. A new verb was born — merkeln: do nothing, give no opinion.
默克爾一直小心翼翼，不去攪亂德國選民富足的生活方式。她基本避免了2005年以前的那種自由化言論，形成一種依靠儘可能少說話來安撫公衆的方法。一個新動詞由此誕生——“Merkeln”：什麼也不做，也不表態。
Behind the scenes she was tireless and detail-orientated. During the Ukraine conflict, she pored over military maps; with Greece, she dug into the rotten pensions system and went through it line by line with Greek premier Alexis Tsipras.
在幕後，默克爾不知疲倦，關注細節。在烏克蘭衝突中，她認真研究軍事地圖；在希臘危機中，她深入研究希臘爛到根的養老金制度，然後一條一條拿出來和希臘總理亞歷克西斯倠溟拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)討論。
The chancellery hums with her ideas, delivered in conversations or in handwritten margin notes on official papers. This is a top-down administration.
德國總理府爲貫徹她的想法而奔忙，這些想法或是來自於談話，或是來自於官方文件上手寫的邊注。這是一個自上而下的政府。
She wields power with the coldbloodedness she once applied to Mr Kohl. This year, she sidelined her loyal aide Thomas de Maizière after his apparent failure to respond fast enough to the migration crisis. “She knows how to use the political knife,” says a CDU MP.
她冷酷無情地執掌大權，一如她曾經對科爾的所作所爲那樣。今年，在她忠實的助手托馬斯德邁齊埃(Thomas de Maizière)明顯未能及時應對移民危機之後，她將他排擠到一邊。“她知道如何運用政治的刀鋒，”一名基民盟議員表示。
The chancellor is well informed — her daily media briefing runs to 100 pages — and an unashamed intellectual, delighting in clever company such as Neil MacGregor, the British Museum’s outgoing director. For her 50th birthday party she arranged a neuroscience lecture. But she also enjoys lighter fare, such as Midsomer Murders, a British TV show.
總理的消息很靈通——她每天閱讀的媒體簡報長達100頁，她還是一個自豪的知識分子，樂於和大英博物館即將卸任的館長尼爾麥格雷戈(Neil MacGregor)這樣的聰明人爲友。在她50歲的生日宴會上，她安排了一場神經科學講座。但她也喜歡更輕鬆的享受，比如英國電視劇《殺機四伏》(Midsomer Murders)。
She relaxes in a holiday cottage in northeastern Germany. She likes to cook, especially local dishes such as beef rouladen. Summer holidays are spent walking in the Dolomites; in the winter she goes cross-country skiing in St Moritz. Her companion is her husband Joachim Sauer, a fellow scientist who she met in the 1980s. She split from her first husband, Ulrich Merkel, another scientist, whose name she kept.
她會在德國東北部的一間度假小屋放鬆。她喜歡烹飪，尤其是德國牛肉卷這樣的本土菜餚。在夏天的假期裏，她會在意大利多洛米蒂山脈(Dolomites)漫步；冬天她會在瑞士聖莫里茨(St Moritz)越野滑雪。她現在的伴侶是她的丈夫約阿希姆紹爾(Joachim Sauer)，是她在上世紀80年代結識的科學家同行。她保留了離異的第一任丈夫烏爾裏希默克爾(Ulrich Merkel)的姓。
Ms Merkel rarely speaks publicly about religion, though a cross sits in her chancellery office. She made an exception, however, when she was confronted in September at a student gathering in Bern, the Swiss capital. Asked whether she was concerned that her policies would Islamisise Europe, she urged Christians to stop blaming Muslims and show the strength of their beliefs. “Let us have the courage to say that we are Christian. Let us have the courage to say that we will go into a dialogue” with Muslims.
雖然她的總理辦公室放置着一個十字架，但默克爾很少公開談論宗教。不過，在9月份瑞士首都伯爾尼的一個學生集會上，她破了例。當被問及她是否擔憂她的政策會使歐洲伊斯蘭化的時候，她敦促基督徒不要再指責穆斯林，而是要展現自己的信仰的力量。“讓我們鼓起勇氣說，我們是基督徒。讓我們鼓起勇氣說，我們會（與穆斯林）展開對話。”
The chancellor once criticised multi-culturalism. But today she praises migrants, not only for their economic contribution but also their role in “enriching German cultural life”.
默克爾曾經批評過文化多元化。但今天她讚揚移民，不僅僅是因爲移民對經濟做出的貢獻，還有他們在“豐富德國文化生活”方面發揮的作用。
Knowing that a fifth of Germans are first- or second-generation immigrants, she is pushing the nation to be more inclusive. Thomas Schmid, political editor of Die Welt, says she seeks a “new, different, more colourful, ever less homogenous and fairly rugged republic”.
默克爾知道德國五分之一的人口是第一代或者第二代移民，她正在推動這個國家增強包容性。《世界報》(Die Welt)政治編輯托馬斯施密德(Thomas Schmid)表示，她在尋求一個“嶄新、不同、更豐富多彩、越來越不同質化和相當粗獷的共和國。”
Ms Merkel was inspired by the sight of German volunteers helping refugees. Some say she saw a chance for Germany to show a gentler face than as the taskmaster of the eurozone crisis, and to pull the country further from its Nazi past.
德國志願者幫助難民的情景讓默克爾受到了啓發。一些人說，她看到了一個機會，讓德國展現出比歐元區危機“監工”更溫和的一面，並且進一步擺脫納粹歷史的陰影。
She is also perhaps capitalising on a growing national confidence, born of the increasing distance from 1945, economic expansion and cultural successes ranging from the hosting of the 2006 football World Cup to “cool” Berlin. “We can do it,” she has said repeatedly in the crisis, echoing Barack Obama’s “Yes we can.”
她或許也在利用日益增強的國民信心，這種信心不僅來自於1945年的逐漸遠去，也來自於經濟增長，以及從主辦2006年世界盃到柏林被認爲是一個“酷”城市等文化上的成功。“我們能夠做到，”她在危機中一再重複這句話，呼應巴拉克攠巴馬(Barack Obama)的話“是的，我們可以”。
But as the threats to the stability of the EU, especially the Schengen free-travel zone, have mounted, another motive has come to the fore: protecting European unity. During the Greek crisis, Ms Merkel repeatedly said: “If the euro fails, Europe fails”. Of the refugee crisis, she says: “It is no exaggeration to see this task as a historic test of Europe.”
但隨着歐盟的穩定，尤其是申根自由旅行區，受到越來越嚴重的威脅，另一個動機顯現出來：維護歐洲團結。在希臘危機中，默克爾多次表示：“如果歐元倒了，歐洲就倒了。”對於難民危機，她表示：“將這個任務看成是對歐洲的歷史考驗並不誇張。”
As a DDR child, she sees herself as a beneficiary of the openness that came with the cold war’s end; she would hate to be the chancellor who watched the EU lurch backwards. “She feels it’s her duty to make the union work,” a German diplomat says. “If it doesn’t work, it is the end of Europe as we know it.”
作爲一個在東德長大的孩子，默克爾認爲自己受益於冷戰結束所帶來的開放；作爲總理的她不願坐視歐盟倒退。“她覺得讓歐盟繼續運轉是自己的職責，”一名德國外交官說，“如果歐盟撐不下去，我們所知的歐洲也就走到了盡頭。”
Berlin has channelled its growing power through the EU, often in lockstep with Paris. However, with France weakened and Britain looking inwards, the EU may no longer fulfil Germany’s hopes.
近年德國通過歐盟施展其日益增強的實力，往往和法國步調一致。然而，隨着法國衰落，英國把眼光投向國內，歐盟或許不再能夠實現德國的願望。
Sharing the burden
分擔重責
For Ms Merkel, closing Germany’s borders to refugees was never practical. Border guards could not be seen using force, but then how could they stop migrants? A government official says: “It was a calculation.”
對默克爾而言，對難民關閉德國邊境根本不切實際。邊境警衛不能使用武力，那他們怎麼可能阻止移民？一名政府官員表示：“那（敞開大門）是盤算的結果。”
Ms Merkel has also pursued pragmatic solutions, toughening Germany’s asylum rules and cutting cash benefits. She is seeking a way to redistribute refugees from countries bearing the brunt — including Greece, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Austria — to other member states. And she is crafting a deal with Turkey to staunch flows.
默克爾也推行了務實的解決方案，收緊德國的庇護規則，削減現金補助。她還在尋求一種辦法，將難民從希臘、意大利、德國、瑞典和奧地利等承受主要壓力的國家分流至歐盟其他成員國。她還試圖和土耳其達成一項協議，以遏止難民流。
So far, though, she has failed to stop the tide. The latest German numbers for the year show 965,000 refugee arrivals by the end of November, putting the country on track for more than 1m for 2015, five times more than last year.
然而，迄今爲止，默克爾未能止住難民潮。德國今年的最新數據表明，截至11月底，已有96.5萬難民進入德國，按照這樣的趨勢發展下去，到今年年底這個數字將達到100萬以上，是去年的5倍多。
Members of her CDU/CSU bloc say she may have only weeks before she has to change tack. Support for the bloc has dipped, while the rightwing Alternative für Deutschland has gained ground to about 8 per cent. Her party is not seeking to replace her, but many want changes, such as on border controls and refugee quotas. Says Mr Schr攙攀爀: “Merkel had heart but no plan.”
基民盟/基社盟的成員表示，距離默克爾不得不改弦易轍的時間或許只有數週了。對這個執政聯盟的支持已經下降，而右翼的德國新選項黨(Alternative für Deutschland)的支持率已經上升至8%左右。默克爾所在的政黨並不想換掉她，但許多人都希望在邊境控制和難民配額方面做出改變。施羅德表示：“默克爾有好心，但沒有計劃。”
In private, the criticism is harsher. A CDU MP says: “Perhaps she’s … tired after 10 years. Perhaps she thinks that if she changes course she will be fundamentally weakened. Perhaps she doesn’t want to admit she was wrong.”
私下裏，對她的批評更爲嚴厲。一位基民盟議員表示：“當了10年總理後，或許她已經……累了。或許她認爲，如果她改變路線，她會從根本上被削弱。或許她不想承認自己錯了。”
Mr Schmid says Ms Merkel’s place in history hangs on the refugee crisis. If she solves it “she will be a great chancellor”. If her efforts fail “she will be recognised for her 10 years as a crisis manager”.
《世界報》的施密德表示，默克爾的歷史地位繫於難民危機之上。如果默克爾解決了這場危機，“她將是一位偉大的總理”。如果她的努力失敗了，“那麼她的10年任期將被銘記爲一個危機管理者”。
This underestimates her impact. Her response to the refugee crisis has shaken Europe profoundly. Germany will never be the same again. For better or for worse, the cautious Ms Merkel is boldly transforming a continent. Even if she fails, she has left an indelible mark.
這番話低估了默克爾的影響。她對難民危機的迴應深刻撼動了歐洲。德國永遠不會一樣了。無論好壞，謹慎的默克爾正在大膽地改變這片大陸。即使她失敗了，她也將留下不可磨滅的印記。
