TheNewsGuru

Tag: Angela Merkel

  • Merkel calls Buhari, thanks him for his words at 76th UNGA in New York

    Merkel calls Buhari, thanks him for his words at 76th UNGA in New York

    Outgoing German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Thursday called President Muhammadu Buhari to pay compliments and thank the Nigerian President over his kind words during his address at the just concluded 76th edition of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

    It will be recalled that President Buhari had concluded his address at the 76th UNGA in New York last week by saying: “Let me close my statement by paying special tribute to a great and humane internationalist, and an exemplary practitioner of multilateralist cooperation. I am speaking of Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany. As she exits the stage, we wish her well.”

    According to a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Chancellor Merkel in the telephone call thanked President Buhari for his kind words and felicitation, wishing him greater successes in the challenging task of leading Nigeria and her about 200 million people.

    “The President was full of appreciation for the cooperation Germany showed Nigeria, and the ECOWAS sub-region at large.

    “He particularly mentioned the support for the project to recharge Lake Chad, through inter-basin water transfer, which would alleviate the plight of about 30 million people0, the statement read.

    President Buhari applauded Merkel’s initiatives on rehabilitation of refugees, and help for developing countries.

    He noted that German companies like Julius Berger, Siemens, and others, were doing well in the country, adding that the Federal Government was doing a lot to improve infrastructure.

    On the security situation, the President said a lot was being done to stabilize things at this difficult period, thanking all the countries that had given helping hand, including Germany.

    And on agriculture and food security, President Buhari said much had been achieved, leading to stoppage of massive food importation to the country.

  • Merkel to face grilling in Germany’s Wire card probe

    Merkel to face grilling in Germany’s Wire card probe

    Germany’s probe into the shocking collapse of payments firm Wire card reaches its climax on Friday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel appearing before the investigative parliamentary committee.

    On Thursday, Merkel’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz tried to shield the government from any blame, saying “the responsibility for this large-scale fraud does not lie with the German government’’.

    Any suggestions that the government or regulatory authorities had protected Wire card were “absurd fairy tales,’’ he said.

    Merkel had advocated for Wire card during a visit to China in September 2019, but had no knowledge at the time of any irregularities, a spokesperson said.

    Wire card, which had been listed on Germany’s DAX index of leading companies, admitted in June 2020 that 1.9 billion euros (2.3 billion dollars) in assets likely did not exist.

    This in turn prompted a plunge in the company’s shares, bankruptcy and the arrest of former executives.

    More broadly, it leads to doubts about the effectiveness of financial oversight authorities in Europe’s biggest economy.

    Questions also arose as to why EY, Wire card’s auditor, had not noticed the financial irregularities.

  • Germany tightens lockdown for Easter

    Germany tightens lockdown for Easter

    German leaders on Tuesday agreed to extend the country’s coronavirus lockdown until April 18 to contain new infections and tighten measures over the Easter holidays.

    Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of the country’s federal states reached agreement on the strict lockdown measures following 11 hours of talks on the country’s way forward in the pandemic.

    The leaders agreed that public and private life should come to a virtual standstill over the long Easter holiday weekend from April 1, through 5.

    Shops were to remain closed throughout, except for grocery stores and supermarkets, which would be allowed to be open on Saturday April 3.

    People are urged to stay at home throughout those five days, leaders said in a statement.

    Public gatherings were generally banned during that time, but COVID-19 testing and vaccination centres would remain open.

    Easter services are largely to be held virtually, and private gatherings limited to five people from two households, not counting children up to the age of 14.

    Merkel justified the new measures in view of the rapidly increasing number of infections.

    “We have not yet been able to defeat the virus, it does not give up,” she said.

    Merkel said the situation in Germany was quite serious, with the number of cases rising exponentially, increasing stress on hospital intensive care units and the spread of more contagious coronavirus variants.

    She spoke of the vaccination situation in Germany as “a race.”

    It was also agreed that once a seven-day incidence of more than 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants was registered, local government districts must further tighten lock down measures.

    This would include some curfews, stricter contact restrictions or the obligation for people to get daily quick COVID-19 tests in areas where social distancing or consistent mask-wearing are difficult to keep up.

    The talks were bogged down at one point because of major differences over the concept of socially distanced holidays, with several states wanting to allow people to take solitary holidays in vacation rentals, holiday homes, apartments, caravans and mobile homes.

    But no agreement was reached.

    Most shops in Germany have been closed since Dec. 16. Restaurants, bars and leisure facilities have been closed since early November.

    The country has moved ahead with the first reopening this month, with hairdressers, florists and hardware stores permitted to unlock their doors in some areas.

  • German Chancellor, Merkel rejects Trump’s invitation for G7 summit in Washington

    German Chancellor, Merkel rejects Trump’s invitation for G7 summit in Washington

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend the G7 summit in Washington due to the coronavirus pandemic, the German Press Agency reported Saturday, citing government spokesperson, Steffen Seibert.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on May 20 that he was aiming for a real G7 summit in Washington in late June as a sign of normalisation after the outbreak of the pandemic.

    The summit was originally scheduled for June 10-12 at the presidential retreat of Camp David, Maryland.

    In March, however, the U.S. government cancelled the arrangement because of the pandemic and scheduled a video conference instead.

    Merkel had initially left open whether she would accept Trump’s invitation to participate in a video conference.

    In whatever form this meeting takes place, “whether as a video conference or otherwise, I will definitely fight for multilateralism.

    “That is very clear, both in the G7 and the G20,’’ the chancellor said on May 20.

  • German Chancellor, Merkel in quarantine over Coronavirus

    German Chancellor, Merkel in quarantine over Coronavirus

    Angela Merkel, German Chancellor has gone into self-isolation after a doctor who administered a vaccine on her tested positive for coronavirus.

    Merkel’s spokesman said the German chancellor, who is 65, was informed about the doctor’s test shortly after holding a news conference Sunday announcing new measures to curb the spread of the virus, AP reports.

    According to her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, Merkel had received a precautionary vaccine Friday against pneumococcal infection.

    She said in a statement that Merkel would undergo “regular tests” in the coming days and continue with her work from home for the time being.

    Merkel had earlier expressed her gratitude to Germans who were following the rules on social distancing, saying it was important to remain at least 1.5 meters (about five feet) apart to reduce the likelihood of infection.

  • Merkel urges divided Germans to pull together in 2019

    Merkel urges divided Germans to pull together in 2019

    Acknowledging that her government disappointed many Germans in 2018, Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to pull the country together for 2019.

    She called for solidarity and cooperation to overcome deep political divisions.

    In her New Year speech, Merkel said she recognised that many Germans “bemoaned” the ruling coalition that took office in March.

    This was an alliance of her conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), which has been blighted by infighting.

    But she added: “We will only master the challenges of our times if we stick together and collaborate with others across borders.”

    Germany is still feeling the impact of Merkel’s 2015 decision to leave open the country’s borders to more than 1 million refugees, mainly fleeing war in the Middle East.

    Resentment at that decision helped feed the rise of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which surged into the Bundestag for the first time at last year’s federal election, fracturing the country’s political landscape.

    Merkel has given up the leadership of her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), but wants to remain chancellor for the remainder of the current legislative period through to 2021 .

    This is a goal she referenced again in her New Year’s speech.

    A poll on Sunday showed a majority of those surveyed Germans who expressed an opinion supported her staying on as chancellor for the full term.

    Merkel stressed what she called Germany’s values of “openness, tolerance, respect”.

    She said that the country would work towards “global solutions” when it starts a two-year stint as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council from Jan. 1.

    Merkel has sought to defend the Western order on which Germany depends and which U.S. President Donald Trump has destabilised by pulling out of international agreements on climate change.

    He pulled out of Iran’s nuclear programme, and with tariffs.

    She said she was committed to making the European Union more robust and capable of taking decisions.

    “And with Britain, we want to maintain a close partnership in spite of withdrawal from the European March,” she added.

     

  • Breaking: Angela Merkel to step down chancellorship

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said this is her last chancellorship and that she will step down in 2021 when the term ends.
    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Merkel made this known while addressing a press conference at the headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on Monday.
    Merkel, chairwoman of Germany’s CDU since 2000, also said she will not run for party leadership at its next conference in December.
    Having served as chancellor for 13 years, Merkel, however, said she will remain as chancellor for the remainder of the term.
    Merkel also added that she will not take any other political positions after the chancellorship.
    “I want my party gets the freedom to prepare well for the future,” said Merkel.
     

  • Merkel welcomes Brexit progress, says devil is in detail

    Merkel welcomes Brexit progress, says devil is in detail

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on Wednesday welcomed progress in negotiations on a Brexit deal and said she wanted a close relationship with Britain after it leaves the European Union, especially on security matters.
    “I hope there is progress, apparently there is progress, but sometimes the devil is in the detail so everything is only worked out when it is all worked out,’’ she told a news conference after meeting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
    Earlier, EU negotiator Michel Barnier said a Brexit deal was “within reach’’ soon, even as he rammed home his insistence that Britain must accept possible checks on trade between its mainland and Northern Ireland.
    Merkel said the negotiations were in a decisive phase and the sooner they were concluded the better.
    “We agree that we want friendly relations with Britain, above all very, very close cooperation in the security policy area,” she said.
    Rutte told the joint news conference: “It is important that Brexit happens as orderly as possible’’.
     

  • Merkel sworn in for fourth term by Bundestag

    Angela Merkel was on Wednesday sworn in as German chancellor before the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin.

    Ending with the phrase “So help me God,” Merkel took her oath of office in front of parliamentary speaker and former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

    Merkel had earlier been elected to her fourth term as chancellor by the Bundestag.

    Merkel garnered 364 of the 688 votes delivered in the secret ballot on Thursday and was therefore elected as expected in the first round of voting.

    At least 355 votes were required in the 709-seat chamber.

    There were 315 votes against her re-election and nine abstentions.

    For the first time, Merkel’s husband Joachim Sauer was present for the vote, as was her mother, Herlind Kasner.

    German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had earlier proposed Merkel – who heads the largest party in the chamber, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – as chancellor to the lawmakers in accordance with the constitution.

    Merkel had struggled to form a new government since inconclusive election results in September. At first, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) refused to join her conservative bloc in government, and then talks with the liberals and Greens collapsed.

    A volte-face by former SPD leader Martin Schulz led to a hard-fought 177-page coalition agreement in February. Two-thirds of SPD members finally approved the agreement just under two weeks ago, paving the way for a new grand coalition government under Merkel’s leadership.

    The three parties in the grand coalition – the SPD, the CDU and its allied Christian Social Union (CSU) – have governed Germany since 2013.

    “A great amount of work lies before us,” Merkel said at a press conference on Monday in Berlin ahead of the formal signing ceremony for the new deal.

    “I am optimistic that it will be a success.”

    It is expected that this will be Merkel’s last term in office.

     

  • Fight for equal rights for women continues – Angela Merkel

    German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said that the “fight for equal rights for women continues’’ in spite the progress made so far, in an Instagram post for International Women’s Day.

    In a video message on Thursday, Merkel said: “many women before us made sacrifices and fought doggedly for women to have more rights.

    “It is now 100 years since women themselves could vote.

    “But we are of course not happy just to vote, we also want to shape policies in all areas: to take on political responsibility in the family, in the world of work.”

    Merkel also hinted at greater female representation in her new government.

    She is set to be re-elected for a fourth term as German chancellor next week after her conservative bloc hammered out a hard-won coalition deal with the Social Democrats (SPD) almost six months after an inconclusive election result.

    “I am permitted also to say today that the new cabinet will definitely be an interesting mix of men and women,” Merkel said.

    She went on to say there was still much to do in Germany to achieve full equality between men and women, but even more in countries where women lack even basic rights.

    “Today is not just a day to look back on what we have achieved, but also a day on which we say: The fight for equal rights for women continues,” she concluded.

    At a G20 women’s summit in April 2017, Merkel refused to answer a question about whether or not she was a feminist, saying that she felt uncomfortable taking credit for activists’ successes.