Achtung! Dreaded fourth term looms for new chancellor

London

FROM now on, for Angela Merkel - and for Europe - everything gets tougher. In an initial TV post-mortem after Sunday's landmark German election, the German chancellor emphasised the country's widespread challenges, ranging from integrating Islamic refugees and reorganising the diesel industry to reacting to the global policies of the United States and China.

However, the newly intensified fragmentation of German politics, and Mrs Merkel's clear difficulties in assembling a cohesive coalition, will greatly complicate the Federal Republic's tasks. She will need more than her slogan on Sunday night - "strength through serenity" - to pull through.