display

The appearance of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on Wednesday with the withdrawal of the decision on the Easter rest days and her request for forgiveness also caused a stir internationally.

Merkel “was unable to get the crisis under control,” writes “De Standaard” from Belgium.

The Swiss “Tagesanzeiger” writes: “The government’s crisis management will finally become a debacle.

In addition, many summarize the crisis of the CDU again: mask affair, unhappy acting CDU ministers, chaos with the corona vaccinations and the actions of the EU under the direction of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“De Standaard”, Belgium: Germany's voters are angry

display

“The woman, who was praised for her skills as a crisis manager, was unable to get this crisis under control.

It honors Angela Merkel that, as a politician, she takes the blame at the end of her career.

But it is questionable whether this will stop her party's decline in popularity.

(...) The voters are angry because some MPs have made a lot of money from selling masks.

Others also find that CDU ministers are acting inadequately in these difficult Corona times. "

“Tages-Anzeiger”, Switzerland: Merkel's credibility has been shaken

“The government's recently unconvincing crisis management is finally turning into a debacle.

And to Merkel's debacle.

(...) The mistake shakes Merkel's credibility in the marrow.

What does it mean that she takes political “responsibility” for this?

She can hardly resign six months before her planned departure.

A rebellion against her by her party seems unlikely.

Especially since Merkel was the politician most Germans trusted.

display

The only thing that is certain is that the coronavirus will remain a threat for the foreseeable future.

The German federal and state governments must responsibly counter this, regardless of which measure they consider to be popular or unpopular.

The virus does not care about what the Chancellor and the Prime Ministers decide in dramatic night meetings. "

"Rzeczpospolita", Poland: Merkel does not want to harm the CDU

“After massive criticism, the Chancellor withdrew the Corona resolutions of the summit with the Prime Minister.

"A mistake has to be named as a mistake and, above all, it has to be corrected," Merkel read from the sheet at her suddenly scheduled press conference.

She asked the citizens for forgiveness and took all responsibility on herself.

display

She herself will retire from politics in a few months and certainly does not want to harm the CDU.

The general election is in September, and the CDU polls have fallen to 26 to 28 percent.

A few weeks ago it was 35 to 37 percent.

The CDU is damaging the chaos with the corona vaccinations and the lockdown, affairs with the purchase of masks, in which even the name of the health minister appears, as well as the actions of the EU under the leadership of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who comes from this party. "

“NZZ”, Switzerland: Merkel has become a burden in the election campaign

"What remains is the impression of a political leadership that is causing chaos and uncertainty in Germany through poor government work: It is surprising that apparently none of those who connected via video at the corona summit recognized that the idea of" Easter rest "was simply not practical if you allow the Chancellor and the Prime Minister to have made the decision in a state of exhaustion.

(...)

The North Rhine-Westphalian head of government and German CDU chairman Armin Laschet emphasized that all the summit participants supported the “Easter rest”.

Such requests to speak cannot disguise the fact that Angela Merkel, who was once seen by many as an argument in favor of voting for the CDU or CSU, has long since become a burden in the election campaign for the Union parties.

She is now what Americans call a "lame duck," an on-call leader.

In what is probably the worst crisis in its history, the Federal Republic has to prepare for six months of Interregnum. "