Stefano Rocca: Merkel, Europe, and German 'Continuity' - Does Merkel's resounding victory vindicate her handling of the eurozone crisis? The result vindicates her handling of the eurozone crisis – at least as far as German voters are concerned. Merkel responded cautiously and slowly, seeking to sustain a consensus among Germany's mainstream parties. Her focus on austerity, although not popular among those southern tier Eurozone members struggling with unemployment and low growth, won the approval of German taxpayers. More generally, the results of the German election reversed the general European trend of mainstream left and right parties converging toward the political center, but losing ground to smaller parties more skeptical of European integration. The "grand coalition" between the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) that looms on the horizon consolidates the pro-EU orientation of the next German government. Alternatives for Germany, the new German party resolutely opposed to bailouts for the Eurozone's weaker economies, failed to attain the five percent of votes need to enter the parliament. The populist, anti-immigrant, anti-EU sentiment faring well in other EU member states has yet to gain significant traction in Germany. That is good news for Germany and for the European Union.