Angela Merkel’s witty response when asked what she would do when she leaves office after 16 years

the elections planned September in Germany will usher in a new political era in this country, without the presence of Angela Merkel, the famous chancellor who ruled the destinies of the Germans for more than three decades. The president has just completed her last international tour in the United States. There she was consulted on What will be your future. The chef gave a witty answer.

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Merkel, in power since 2005, announced in 2018 his retirement from the presidency of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a party he led for 18 years, and He ratified that he would not seek a fifth term as chancellor or seek another political post at German or European level. The date for the election of a new head of government, announced for September 26, will also mark the fate of the European Union (EU), in which the Germans maintain a strong presence as the main economy of the community bloc.

Despite the insistence of President Joe Biden’s administration that it was a “working visit”, Merkel’s one-day stay in the White House had the characteristics of a farewell to one of Europe’s leading political figures. “I want to take a moment to recognize the historic character of your Chancellery: the first female Chancellor in German history, the first Chancellor of the former East Germany,” Biden said at a joint press conference.

Chancellor Merkel has been here frequently over the past 16 years. In fact, he knows the Oval Office as well as I do, ”he joked. the American president.

But besides meeting Joe Biden, Merkel was honored in a ceremony with the presentation of an Honoris Causa of the prestigious Johns Hopkins University. Before closing the event, the president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the university, Jeffrey Rathke, asked him a question: “The day you wake up in the morning, Once your successor is sworn in as Chancellor and you are just another citizen, what will you do? What has changed in his life?

“I think you will probably have to invite me again.The 67-year-old chancellor joked, adding: ‘As I haven’t quit this job yet, I still don’t know what I’ll do next.

“It is possible that, as usual, I think about the things I need to do, until suddenly I realize that now it’s someone else who has to take care of it. I think that that will comfort me a lot“, He said between smiles and continued:” So I will realize that now I have free time. And I won’t accept the first invitation I get just because I’m afraid I have nothing to do, or feel like no one needs me. i think i will take A break, a time to think about what really interests me at the moment ”.

“Over the past 16 years, I have had very little time for this. So Maybe I’ll try to read a little, till my eyes close, and take a nap. We will see with confidence how to continue, ”Merkel concluded.