Auf Wiedersehen: Merkel attends her swan song EU summit - probably

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the media as she arrives for an EU leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, October 21, 2021. Olivier Hoslet/Pool via REUTERS

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders will pause their meeting in Brussels on Thursday for a farewell photograph with Angela Merkel, who is attending what could be the last of more than 100 summits over nearly 16 years as chancellor of Germany.

The doyenne of European politics has sat at the conference table with four French presidents, five British prime ministers and eight Italian premiers since her first EU summit in December 2005.