Germany: Angela Merkel's last New Year wishes
Angela Merkel recording her last New Year's greetings on December 30, 2020 in Berlin.
AP - Markus Schreiber
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
It's a little early that a page of history closes.
Nine months before the next German general elections and her departure from business, Angela Merkel addresses her fellow citizens for the 16th and last time for the traditional New Year's greetings. Their content was published before their broadcast on television this evening.
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With our correspondent in Berlin,
Pascal Thibault
“
Never since 2005 has the past year seemed so difficult to us.
And never despite so many concerns and sometimes skepticism, have we waited for the New Year with so much hope
”.
Angela Merkel chose to end her speech with a bit of optimism and anticipated her political farewell by stressing that this was her last wishes as Chancellor.
These wishes placed under the sign of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wishes under the sign of empathy
Angela Merkel chose empathy for her statements.
She recalled the memory of the victims of the disease, paid tribute to the doctors and nurses, had a word for the traders, the self-employed workers and the employees hit by the economic consequences of the crisis.
The Chancellor thanks her fellow citizens for their discipline and denounces "
the cynicism and cruelty
" of those who deny or relativize the scope of the pandemic.
Angela Merkel foresees a "
difficult winter
".
But she wants to be optimistic: “For a
few days now, hope has had a face: that of the first people vaccinated.
I will also be vaccinated when my turn comes
”.
►Also read: What will remain of Angela Merkel in 2021, after 16 years at the head of Germany?
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Germany
Angela Merkel