German Chancellor Angela Merkel, next to Chinese President Xi Jinping, attends a state banquet in the Elbphilarmonie concert Hall on the first day of the G20 economic summit on July 7, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany | Pool photo by Felipe Trueba/Getty Images Merkel: Brexit and French election changed my opinion on Europe ‘It is worth fighting for this Europe,’ says German chancellor.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel became more determined to fight for a stronger Europe after the U.K.'s decision to leave the EU and the election of French President Emmanuel Macron, Reuters reported Saturday.

Merkel told a campaign rally in the Baltic Sea resort of Zingst that the two events had shifted her perception of the EU. She also said membership in the bloc was one of Germany's biggest strengths.

"For many people, including myself, something changed when we saw the Britons want to leave, when we were worried about the outcome of the elections in France and the Netherlands," said Merkel.

However, she said the EU wasn't perfect and Brussels was too bureaucratic.

"But we have realized in the past few months that Europe is more than just bureaucracy and economic regulation, that Europe and living together in the European Union have something to do with war and peace, that the decades of peace after World War Two would have been completely unthinkable without the European Union," said the chancellor to applause.

The German leader also said that many Europeans had already forgotten what life was like without the EU and its freedoms.

"You don't have all this in many parts of the world. And that's why it is worth fighting for this Europe," she said. "That's why one of our election placards is saying: 'If Europe is stronger, then Germany will be stronger.' This is directly related."

Germany heads to the polls on September 24.