Economic Praise for Merkel As Election Looms

According to a Pew survey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is outperforming her fellow EU leaders in terms of dealing with the economic crisis. With elections taking place on Sunday, recent polls suggest Merkel is leading in her bid for re-election.

Her popularity is also reflected in the survey – about three-in-four Germans (74 percent) think Merkel has done a good job handling the European financial crisis. Merkel’s economic strategy has also proven highly favourable internationally – 73 percent of French surveyed gave the German chancellor high marks.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, however, Merkel’s economic policies have not proven popular in austerity ravaged southern Europe. Just ten percent of Greeks and 39 percent of Spanish surveyed felt she had done a good job handling the economic crisis.

Only 53 percent of Germans and 33 percent of French surveyed believed French President Francois Hollande had done a good job handling the economic crisis. When it came to British Prime Minister David Cameron, a quarter of the Germans and half of the French surveyed gave him high marks in terms of handling the European financial crisis.