(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel opted to sit through a ceremony welcoming Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to Berlin on Thursday, a day after she suffered her third bout of shaking in less than a month during a similar event.
A visibly calm Merkel, who will turn 65 next week, was seated beside Frederiksen during the playing of both countries’ national anthems at Thursday’s event outside the chancellery. Normally she stands during such events.
On Wednesday, the German leader was noticeably trembling when she met her Finnish counterpart. She said after the incident that she was feeling fine and that there was no reason for concern.
Still, the repeated bouts of shivering renewed pressure on Merkel to open the books on her state of health and raised concerns about her ability to continue governing. She responded that she was very capable and that the ailment would go away one day just as it came.
Following the first two bouts of shaking in June, Merkel shuttled to Japan and back for the Group of 20 summit and attended overnight marathon negotiations in Brussels over European Union top jobs.
At today’s ceremony, authorities adopted security measures usually reserved for high-profile visitors such as Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin with a heavy police presence and a larger-than-usual area cordoned off limits to the general public.
(Updates with details throughout.)
–With assistance from Iain Rogers.
To contact the reporter on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at [email protected], Raymond Colitt, Chris Reiter
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