“Danke schön!” EU leaders, Obama give Merkel big sendoff

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Angela Merkel is still Germany’s Chancellor and might be still when the European Union leaders meet again, yet they have given her a farewell party at Friday’s EU summit. Attending her 107th summit, she was feted by friend and foe alike in an informal ceremony behind closed doors, where they called her anything from a “compromise machine” to the EU’s Eiffel Tower. Merkel has been the embodiment of the drive for a stronger united Europe for years since she attended her first meeting of EU leaders 16 years ago, at a time when Jacques Chirac was French president and Tony Blair British prime minister.