"We can handle it!"

Famous sociologist from Munich Armin Nassehi in an interview with dpa agency on the occasion of the fifth anniversary "We can handle it!" spoke of the phrase as an icon. With a clarification: an icon, of course, is a painting that captures something more than the artist's brush can express. Angela Merkel's phrase captures the true potential of migration assistance, in which few believed at first. But if they did believe it, then it was an icon. In this situation, bordering on chaos, Merkel showed firmness and philanthropy: Germany will not insist on transit to the "next" countries, will leave everyone who got to her, at home - until further deciding the fate of the aliens and, most likely, integrating them into your society.

https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/sendung/angela-merkel-wir-schaffen-das-100.html

It is unlikely that the head of the FRG government expected that her phrase would go down in history and become a symbol. According to Armin Nassehi, "We can handle it!" Is a symbol not only of Germany's migration policy and the crisis in Europe, but also of the entire period of Angela Merkel's tenure at the head of the government.

The rising wave of criticism against the government and internal party strife, which could well have cut short Merkel's political career, only set off her iron character. Until then, it was believed that the chancellor measures seventy times before cutting. Here, she immediately accepted the challenge and did not back down from her decision. Two weeks after the historic press conference, in mid-September, overcoming a wave of criticism and disbelief in the government's efficiency, she confirmed her words, and she did it, one might say, in a raised voice: “I say again and again: we can deal with this and we can handle it! "

 This was the most difficult point in the politician's biography. Many assessed the pressure of the Bundeschancellor as an invitation for refugees to Germany. “From that moment on, they began to believe that the words of Angela Merkel were one of the reasons for the migration wave,” says the prominent Dutch publicist Geert Mack. Although in fact there was no appeal in her words, it was about those who, having passed the Balkan route, had already flooded Europe. Their fate had to be decided, and Germany rolled up its sleeves when other countries were drowning in disputes.

Well, few really believed in success at first. But the structure of the phrase itself, according to the linguist Eckehard Felder of Heidelberg, is ingenious because it has a calming effect. The animated series Bob the Builder, popular among German kids, immediately comes to mind, where there is a song with a refrain: “Can we? Yes, we can handle it! " What children succeed in (to believe in their own strength) must, in the end, come out to adults. The phrase found an echo in the minds of millions. Even when scolded, she works for Merkel's popularity. Even when the leader of the destructive Alternative for Germany.

https://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/article214663726/Wir-schaffen-das-Ein-Satz-fuer-die-Geschichtsbuecher.html

It is characteristic, however, that Angela Merkel herself is not proud of a well-pronounced phrase. Her own subtext, which she put in, was, apparently, this: we will cope with this, since we have nothing else to do. Today it is more often used in the past tense: "We did it." Germany accepted, accommodated, provided at a civilized level, one way or another included in its social life more than a million refugees. The German people received the flow of people from another part of the world, bearers of a completely different culture with exemplary efficiency and consistency.

The topic of refugees, of course, is not closed. The war in Syria is not over, and it is not the only hot spot on the planet. But there is no more panic and a wave of disbelief. Polls show that people in Germany are more worried about the lack of integration measures taken towards refugees than about holes in their own wallet, from which part of the funds goes to provide for immigrants.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wir_schaffen_das

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/merkel-wir-schaffen-das-109.html

https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/fluechtlingskrise-wir-schaffen-das-nach-fuenf-jahren-ist-es-an-der-zeit-bilanz-zu-ziehen/26126858.html