Angela Merkel was all over the news this past year due to her efforts with the refugee crisis and the downfall of the Greek economy. For these reasons, she has been hailed as the most influential person of 2015.
Merkel was one of the most open-minded national leaders when it came to accepting Syrian refugees into her country. In fact, Germany was one of the countries that accepted the largest amounts of refugees.
News sites such as B92 were open about their support of Angela Merkel's actions. "For hopeful Syrian and Afghan refugees she was "Mama Merkel"; some of her European counterparts and party colleagues were less welcoming, even openly critical," says a report on Yahoo News.
AFP's list of the most influential people of 2015 puts last year's top spot holder, Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second position. Putin had his fair share of controversy over the past year, but that did not stop him from being one of the most influential people of 2015.
Putin notably took center stage during the Syrian refugee crisis. He did so by helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad maintain political power and begin putting an end to the four-year war that had ravaged Syria over the past year.
Catholic leader Pope Francis was also on the list along with other world leaders such as Alex Tsipras, Yanis Varoufakis, and Aung San Suu Kyi. Leaders of large organizations and companies were also included such as Donald Trump and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
A notable inclusion in the list is the people of Paris who have recently gone through tough times in 2015. The first of these was the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in January while another one was the terrorist attacks that were responsible for the loss of life of 130 people. Everyone included on this list definitely made an impact this past year.
