BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel
said she was "working through" a bout of shaking that first
occurred in mid-June and struck for the third time on Wednesday,
though she insisted she was fine and that "just as it happened
one day, so it will disappear".
Earlier, Merkel shook back and forth as she stood outside
and looked uncomfortable while watching a military ceremony
marking the arrival of visiting Finnish Prime Minister Antti
Rinne, who stood by her side.
After the first shaking episode, when she met visiting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on June 18, Merkel said
she felt better after drinking some water.
"I am fine," Merkel told a news conference after Wednesday's
meeting with Rinne.
"I have recently said that I am working
through what happened during the military honours with President
Zelenskiy."
Angela Merkel seen shaking for third time https://t.co/PqCEvw91GN pic.twitter.com/SFPq98Xb2A
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 10, 2019
"This process is clearly not finished yet but there is
progress and I must live with this for a while but I am very
well and you don't need to worry about me," she added.
"I believe that just as it happened one day, so it will
disappear. Otherwise I am convinced that I am quite capable (of
doing my job)," she said.
She gave no details of any medical advice or treatment she
has been given.
The chancellor, 64 and in office since 2005, has no history
of serious health issues. Her office has given no explanation
for the shaking episodes.
Medical experts have played down speculation about what
Merkel's ailment is, saying there are multiple potential causes
of tremor.
Germany's political establishment has observed a respectful
silence over the shaking, but mass-selling daily Bild asked
whether Merkel should say more about her health after the third
episode, arguing: "The silence, the dismissiveness is no longer
so easy to understand."
At Wednesday's news conference, Merkel was asked twice about
her health. In the follow-up question, pressed by Reuters on
whether she should be more transparent, she said: "I think that
my statement that I am fine can be accepted."
In the United States, portions of the results of the
president's annual medical examination is traditionally made
public, but in Germany, political leaders are generally expected
to enjoy more privacy around their health.
WORK ETHIC
Merkel was also seen shaking on June 27 when she met German
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier but her spokesman said she was
fine and she later went ahead with her planned trip to Japan for
a G20 summit. A government official told Reuters at the time
that that was more a psychological issue as she tried
desperately to avoid a repeat.
After her Japan trip, Merkel went straight into three days
of tortuous talks in Brussels to decide on a new group of
nominees for top European Union jobs - a package that has
strained her coalition government.
Merkel is renowned for her work ethic and has a reputation
for outlasting other leaders at EU summits with her ability to
focus on the details of complex discussions deep into the night.
In November 2016, when announcing that she would seek a
fourth term as chancellor, Merkel said: "It is a decision not
just for an election campaign but about the next four years ...
if health allows it."
Were Merkel to be incapacitated, Steinmeier would appoint a
cabinet minister as acting chancellor until parliament elects a
new chancellor. This need not be Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a
member of the Social Democrats - junior partner in Merkel's
ruling grand coalition.
In the past, Merkel has joked that she is a "sleep camel"
who can go days with just a few hours of sleep as long as she
gets a full night of sleep at the weekend. She is due to go on
holiday later in the summer.
Merkel has loomed large on the European stage since 2005,
helping guide the EU through the euro zone crisis and opening
Germany's doors in 2015 to migrants fleeing war in the Middle
East - a move that still divides the bloc and her country.