The chancellor urges in shrill wording not to overdo it with the easing in the federal states. From zoos, ice cream vendors, school-leavers, places of worship and masks.
Berlin. On Monday, Germany carefully approached the “new normal”, as the governing authorities in Berlin (and Vienna) call it. Shops with sales areas of up to 800 square meters opened in many, but not all, of the federal states. Here and there the relief went even further. In any case, the handbrake was gently loosened for the first time after four weeks. And in the midst of this new phase of relaxation, the Chancellor burst with a shrill warning that might appear in later biographies about Angela Merkel. In a video conference of the CDU presidium, she complained about the “opening discussion orgies” of the federal states.
As usual, what was said leaked out into the CDU leadership team. Merkel knows the game. She has been chancellor for almost 15 years. And soon there was protest, especially since the Germans put a lot of emphasis on their democratic culture of discussion, which has so far brought them through the crisis. The first commentators assumed that Merkel wanted to choke off the necessary debates with the word “orgies”, as she had previously done by describing her policy as “without alternative”. “The Chancellor is wrong,” said FDP representatives, who pointed out that infection protection was a matter for the country and thinking about openings.
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