German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been officially photographed for the first time wearing a protective mask, after the controversy caused by the fact that she did not use it in her public events.
The face mask worn by the chancellor is black with the logo of the German presidency of the Council of the European Union and the photograph in question was taken on Thursday night in a previous meeting with the federal states about the German semester at the head of the Advice.
The debate over Merkel and the use of the mask came up on Monday as part of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Meseberg Castle, located north of Berlin. During that visit, a journalist asked the chancellor why he had never been seen wearing a mask before.
“If I keep the distance rules, I don’t have to put on a mask. If I don’t keep the distance and go to the supermarket, yes. But obviously we don’t meet there,” Merkel replied. In addition, the president created a bit of suspense about it: “There will be other occasions when they will surely still see me with a mask.”
And while Merkel has finally shown signs of complying with the rules, this Friday the members of the Bundestag have had trouble complying with the distancing.
After the first vote on the abandonment of coal in phases did not produce a clear majority, the deputies have had to divide themselves into three rooms – for yes, no and abstention – in order to move the legislation forward.
Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki has repeatedly had to ask colleagues to keep the required 1.5 meters apart from each other and many, including members of Merkel’s CDU and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) , have been seen without a mask.
