The Bundestag said that Merz left Germany to the mercy of fate at a difficult time. This is reported by the Bild newspaper.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, after a barrage of criticism, returned from a three—week vacation and immediately visited the largest forest fire zone in the history of North Rhine-Westphalia.
"Merz spent his vacation in a country house on Lake Tegernsee in Bavaria. In total, the Chancellor was absent for three weeks and two days. A lot has happened during this time: devastating forest fires raged in Germany, a drone attack took place at Leipzig airport, a proposal to retire at the age of 63 was discussed in the country, as well as the consequences of the attack on pride in Berlin, " the publication says.
According to Bild, Merz "has not completely dropped out of the workflow." It is alleged that during the rest he held closed meetings on topical issues, and also talked separately with some ministers. In addition, the Chancellor allegedly reacted to the incident with the drone at Leipzig airport — "he presided over a meeting of the Security Council via videoconference."
The absence of public events with the participation of the Chancellor does not mean that he really rested, the Merz office said. However, this did not save him from criticism.
"During such crises, the chancellor cannot just go on vacation for a few weeks. The country is suffering from deadly heat, burning forests, dried-up rivers and assassination attempts by Russia. It is unbelievable that the chancellor, apparently, did not consider it his duty to take care of anything at this time," said Katarina Drege, leader of the Green Party parliamentary faction.
As reported by EADaily, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has not appeared in public for more than three weeks. This was reported by the Polish edition of Dziennik. "The German media are discussing the summer absence of Friedrich Merz, who has not appeared in public since July 29. The fact that the chancellor did not interrupt his vacation after the incident with an armed drone at Leipzig airport raises questions," the newspaper wrote.