In 2017 Address, Merkel Decries “Distorted Picture” Of Refugee Policy “Painted By Populists”

In an awkwardly similar rhetoric to the failed slogan of Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her nation that “together, we are stronger. Our state is stronger,” giving no ground on her increasingly questioned open-border refugee policy as she slammed the “distorted picture” being painted by populists.
Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to stay calm in the face of Islamist terrorism and, as Bloomberg reports, criticized nationalists for offering false hopes of security, signaling she’ll count on voters to opt for stability when she runs for a fourth term in 2017.
In her New Year’s Eve speech to the nation, Merkel predicted a contentious political climate in a year that’ll include Donald Trump’s inauguration as U. S. president on Jan. 20 and elections in France and the Netherlands. ‘As we pursue our lives and our work, we tell the terrorists: They are murderers full of hatred, but it’s not they who determine how we live and want to live,’ Merkel said, according to an advance copy of the nationally televised speech on Saturday. ‘We are free, humane, open. Together, we are stronger. Our state is stronger.’

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Dec 31, 2016.