On Tuesday, Germany’s Parliament (Bundestag) voted in Angela Merkel as Chancellor for her third term.
The country’s new coalition government, writes CNN, is led by Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union Party, along with their partners the center-left Social Democrats and the Christian Social Union. Her next four years of leadership eases many minds since Germany is one of Europe’s largest economies despite the Euro’s continuing economic troubles. There was also a vote recently to increase the German minimum wage to 8.50 euros ($11.50) an hour beginning in January 2015.
Merkel’s third term will give the country consistent leadership at a time when the future of the euro has come under question amid the economic problems of some eurozone members.
While Germany has emerged from the crisis with its economy relatively intact, nations such as Greece have entered deep recessions while unemployment has soared.
Merkel’s re-election also means that whole spying scandal — remember when Merkel and other world leaders realized everyone knew the US was spying on them, thanks to Edward Snowden? — might turn into a courtroom circus. According to the International Business Times, if that dust-up becomes a legal battle Snowden might be called into German court as a witness.
