A year ago, Angela Merkel was Europe’s most powerful politician.
But her invitation to refugees and immigrants to come to Germany last summer has arguably undermined her own government and damaged the cohesion of the EU, perhaps terminally.
The results from the state elections in Germany on Sunday are a straw in the wind.
They were not a definitive rejection of Mrs Merkel’s immigration policy as most votes were still cast for parties supporting the Chancellor’s approach.
But the success of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, once a centre-right movement now infiltrated by more unsavoury elements, suggests that a growing number of voters no longer trust her handling of the refugee crisis.
Perhaps Mrs Merkel can turn this crisis around; but if her aura of indomitability has gone for good, she has only herself to blame.
