TIME Announces German Chancellor Angela Merkel Is the 2015 Person of the Year

After a reader-vote that propelled Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to the lead, and an announcement of eight finalists that left many scratching their heads, TIME has announced that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the 2015 Person of the Year. The selection, which was first given to Charles Lindbergh in 1927, annually recognizes a global figure of influence.Merkel’s open-arm stance on welcoming war-torn refugees has made her viewpoints unpopular with many of her peers and even within her own country. She has preached the phrase “We will cope” as a means of identifying the additional burden of opening the country’s borders.