Paradox behind power of Germany's 'mutti'

Win for Merkel is a victory for politics of principles

BERLIN - As widely expected, Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party again won Germany's federal elections on Sunday by garnering 32.5 percent of the votes.

The chancellor of the past 12 years is regarded by many Germans as a competent "mutti", or "mommy", protecting her country and also the wider Europe from a series of dangers that almost doomed the European Union.