www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

Pomp, punk usher Merkel out of office

By CHEN WEIHUA in Brussels | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2021-12-04 09:24
Share
Share - WeChat
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is handed a certificate next to outgoing German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (second from right) during the Grand Tattoo, a ceremonial send-off for her in Berlin on Dec 2, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]

Leader honored with a traditional military ceremony

Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel was honored on Thursday with a traditional military ceremony to bid farewell to the nation less than a week before German parliament is expected to elect current Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz as her successor.

Merkel thanked fellow Germans in a short speech at the ceremony held in the Ministry of Defense's Bendler Block complex in the capital Berlin. She called on Germans to approach life with "lightness of heart" and be "optimistic" about their country's future.

"Sixteen years as chancellor of Germany were full of events, often very challenging-politically and as a human being," said Merkel.

A scientist by training, Merkel said multiple crises have shown the importance of international cooperation, while tackling the challenges that face the world.

The 67-year-old added that the last two years of the pandemic in particular has shown "how important trust in political leaders, science and public discourse really is".

"I would like to encourage you in the future to look at the world from other people's perspectives as well,"Merkel said.

Merkel has been among the most highly regarded world leaders in various global surveys over the past years.

The Thursday evening ceremony known as Grosser Zapfenstreich, or Grand Tattoo, is the highest military ceremony for a civilian and has become the unofficial farewell ceremony for presidents, chancellors and defense ministers.

Merkel is only the third German chancellor to be honored with such a ceremony, following fellow Christian Democrat Helmut Kohl in 1998 and Social Democrat Gerhard Schroder in 2005.

The military ceremony, which lasts about 20 minutes, goes back to the days of Prussian militarism when it was first established in the 16th century and became set in its structure in the 19th century.

Three songs were performed by the military band at Merkel's request. One is the 18th century Christian hymn Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. The second is a popular chanson by German singer Hildegard Knef called It Shall Rain Red Roses for Me. The third one, You Forgot the Color Film by East German punk singer Nina Hagen in 1974, drew special attention.

In the song, Hagen tells of a young woman lamenting that her boyfriend failed to take color photos of their beach holiday.

Second-longest tenure

Merkel is the first German chancellor from former East Germany. Her tenure is only slightly shorter than her mentor Kohl.

In a planning statement on Thursday, the German parliament said Scholz is expected to be officially elected as German chancellor on Dec 8 to replace the outgoing Merkel.

"Chancellor election day-expected on Wednesday, Dec 8,2021," said the Bundestag in the statement.

Scholz, which won the national elections on Sept 26 by beating Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, announced a coalition with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party.

Merkel's sending off came at a difficult time as Germany is experiencing a new wave of COVID-19 infections.

As a result, Merkel announced on Thursday to tighten restrictions for those unvaccinated.

After a meeting with Scholz and the leaders of 16 federal states, she said people who are not vaccinated will not be able to access nonessential shops, restaurants and places of culture or leisure.

"Today, we talked about an act of national solidarity," she said.

Speaking alongside Merkel, Scholz expressed his belief that mandatory vaccinations against COVID-19 should be required as the number of vaccinated German citizens is insufficient.

"Therefore we must now do this," he said. About 68 percent of Germans are now fully vaccinated.

Agencies contributed to the story.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日本vs欧美一区二区三区 | 欧美亚洲精品在线 | 日韩欧美在线精品 | 亚洲jjzzjjzz在线播放 | 成年人看的毛片 | 国产真真人女人特级毛片 | 影院成人区精品一区二区婷婷丽春院影视 | 国产成人最新毛片基地 | 日韩欧美高清在线观看 | 国产一区二区在线观看免费 | 亚洲男人的天堂成人 | 久久久久国产成人精品亚洲午夜 | 国产欧美一区二区成人影院 | 国产一级特黄aa级特黄裸毛片 | 一色屋成人免费精品网 | 精品手机在线视频 | 国产一区第一页 | 男女扒开双腿猛进入爽爽视频 | 国产精品久久久99 | 亚洲人成在线播放网站岛国 | 国产大尺度福利视频在线观看 | 久久99国产精品久久欧美 | 久久视频精品36线视频在线观看 | 久久99国产亚洲高清观看韩国 | 久久国产成人精品 | 久久国产精品久久国产片 | 色播亚洲精品网站 亚洲第一 | 亚洲天堂.com | 狠狠综合久久久久综合小说网 | 91亚洲精品一区二区福利 | 精品一区二区在线观看 | 久久精品成人免费网站 | 亚洲欧美日韩国产精品26u | 亚洲欧美在线视频 | 姐姐真漂亮在线视频中文版 | 久久99国产乱子伦精品免费 | 日本在线免费观看视频 | 日韩欧美高清在线观看 | 久久色精品 | 精品国产三级a∨在线 | 大学生一级一片第一次免费 |