Merkel honoured by European leaders at its latest summit in Brussels

European leaders have honoured German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday at a summit in Brussels that is expected to be the last in her 16-year career as head of state.

This is Merkel's 107th summit as German Chancellor. Merkel is currently running her country at a time when she is still negotiating who the ruling coalition will be after last elections were last month.

EU Council President Charles Michel distributed a video dedicated to Merkel where images of her participation in the previous summits were.

He stressed during his speech that the European Union saw Angela Merkel is like Rome without the Vatican or Paris without the Eiffel Tower.

“Your goodbye on the European stage touches us politically and fills us with”, Michel said.

He praised the Chancellor's wisdom by adding that she will be absent.

While Austria's new Chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, said that the removal of Merkel “would leave a huge void “, highlighting its major impact on the evolution of the European Union”.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Cruoo said Merkel “is someone who for 16 years has really left a mark on Europe and helped us make the right decisions with many humanism in difficult times”.

His counterpart from Luxembourg, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who worked with Merkel for eight years, said she found solutions every time for all problems, writes Euronews, broadcast Klankosova.tv.