German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has not appeared in public for more than three weeks. This is reported by the Polish edition of Dziennik.
"The German media are discussing the summer absence of Friedrich Merz, who has not appeared in public since July 29. The fact that the Chancellor did not interrupt his vacation after the incident with an armed drone at Leipzig airport raises questions," the publication says.
"Have a nice vacation, goodbye," Merz concluded his last public appearance on July 29 with these words. After that, he went on vacation. But the "several days off" announced by the chancellery have been going on for more than three weeks. After the incident with the drone at Leipzig airport on August 5, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt interrupted his vacation in Italy and came to the city, but the Chancellor did not.
Commenting on the prolonged absence of the head of government, the portal of the weekly "" on Thursday wrote that
"A chancellor who doesn't say anything doesn't say anything stupid either," Der Spiegel commented on the situation, hinting that Merz has a reputation as a politician who regularly causes controversy with his statements and often faces accusations of being too harsh or poorly worded.
The magazine also drew attention to the contrast between the chancellor's long rest and his recent calls for Germans to work more.
Die Welt, in turn, in the commentary "The Silence of Friedrich Merz" asks whether the chancellor is obliged to respond to every public discussion.
The Chancellery does not disclose details of Merz's vacation, but it is assumed that he probably spent part of it at his second home on Lake Tegernsee in Bavaria. It is assumed that Merz is in telephone contact with his colleagues and will appear at government meetings in Berlin in the last week of August.
Even before the start of the chancellor's vacation, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported that Merz took with him the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV Magnifica humanitas, dedicated to AI issues, as well as documents on the EU budget.