Municipal workers prepare to put up a portrait of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they decorate the Martyrs of the Nation boulevard with images of personalities who had a contribution to the advancement of the European Union, in Tirana, Albania, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. As the war in Ukraine has put the bloc's enlargement back at the top of the agenda, Albania hosts in Tirana leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans countries for a one-day summit aimed at reinvigorating the bloc's enlargement process. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Municipal workers prepare to put up a portrait of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they decorate the Martyrs of the Nation boulevard with images of personalities who had a contribution to the advancement of the European Union, in Tirana, Albania, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. As the war in Ukraine has put the bloc's enlargement back at the top of the agenda, Albania hosts in Tirana leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans countries for a one-day summit aimed at reinvigorating the bloc's enlargement process. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

A municipal worker stands next to a portrait of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel while decorating the Martyrs of the Nation boulevard with images of personalities who had a contribution to the advancement of the European Union, in Tirana, Albania, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. As the war in Ukraine has put the bloc's enlargement back at the top of the agenda, Albania hosts in Tirana leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans countries for a one-day summit aimed at reinvigorating the bloc's enlargement process. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

A municipal worker holds a portrait of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel while decorating the Martyrs of the Nation boulevard with images of personalities who had a contribution to the advancement of the European Union, in Tirana, Albania, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. As the war in Ukraine has put the bloc's enlargement back at the top of the agenda, Albania hosts in Tirana leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans countries for a one-day summit aimed at reinvigorating the bloc's enlargement process. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 10, 2021 then outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then German Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a press conference to present the annual report of the German Council of Economic Experts (Wirtschaftsweise) in Berlin. - A war in his backyard, galloping economic crisis, and unhappy partners at home and abroad -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has weathered unprecedented shocks in his first year while struggling to make a mark on the global stage. (Photo by Kay Nietfeld / POOL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 26, 2021 German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles after being handed her dismissal certificate by the German President during an official dismissal ceremony at the Presidential Bellevue Palace in Berlin. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by Jens Schlueter / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 20, 2021 Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel enter the hall for a joint news conference following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, during a visit that was the 20th and last visit to Russia for Merkel as German Chancellor. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko / POOL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 23, 2020 then President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble looks on as then German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a speech about the measures during the coronavirus pandemic at the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in Berlin. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 10, 2019 (L-R) Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel listen to Russia's President Vladimir Putin as they attend a press conference after a summit on Ukraine at the Elysee Palace, in Paris. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by CHARLES PLATIAU / POOL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 11, 2017 then German Chancellor Angela Merkel walks past a picture of former German chancelllor Konrad Adenauer after addressing a press conference after a leadership meeting of her Christian Democratic Party (CDU) at the party's headquarters in Berlin. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

(FILES) This file photo taken on April 30, 2015 shows bottles of beer, from the Beer Theater restaurant and brewery, named "Frau Ribbentrop," featuring Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, in Lviv, Ukraine. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 13, 2014 then German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts as she listens to Gregor Gysi of the Left party answering her speech on the government's policy on Ukraine at the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament in Berlin. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 08, 2011 (From L, 1st row) then French Prime Minister François Fillon, then German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, then European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger, and then Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Erwin Sellering open a symbolic valve during an inaugural ceremony for the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometre gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea, in Lubmin, northeastern Germany. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by JERRY LAMPEN / ANP / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 08, 2011 (From L, front) then French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, then German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and then European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger open a symbolic valve during an inaugural ceremony for the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometre gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea, in Lubmin, northeastern Germany. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 08, 2011 (from L, front) former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, then French Prime Minister François Fillon, then German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, then European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger, and then Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Erwin Sellering open a symbolic valve during an inaugural ceremony for the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometre gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea, in Lubmin, northeastern Germany. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 04, 2008 then US President George W Bush (R) talks with then German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (C) as they attend the NATO-Russia Council meeting at the Parliament in Bucharest, which was overshadowed by rows over the alliance's expansion and US anti-missile defence plans -- Putin, then highly critical of support given to the NATO membership ambitions of Georgia and Ukraine, was to address the alliance's leaders. - On December 8, 2021, Angela Merkel left power, her popularity at the zenith. One year later, the star of the former German chancellor, considered too accommodating with Putin's Russia, has faded. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)