It is more accurate to call it panic than plotting. This week I spent time in the company of members of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat party. Startlingly for an outsider, the conversations turned on whether the German chancellor would survive the refugee crisis. Some thought she had just weeks to turn things around. Never mind that only yesterday she had towered above any other European leader. Overnight, the unthinkable has become the plausible — for some in her party, the probable.
这事与其说是阴谋,不如说是恐慌。上周我与安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)所在的基民盟(Christian Democrat)的一些党员作了一番交谈。对局外人来说令人震惊的是,话题转向了德国总理是否撑得过难民危机。一些人认为她只有数周时间来扭转局面。且不谈她的威望直到最近还远远高于欧洲其他领导人。一夜之间,难以置信的事似乎变得合情合理——对于其党内某些人来说,甚至是很可能发生的事。