Angela Merkel
First TV interview as former chancellor
From 2005 to 2021 was Angela Merkel is the first female chancellor of the Federal Republic.
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There is a reunion with Angela Merkel in a ZDF documentary about East German identity and the sense of unity among migrants.
Angela Merkel (69) can be seen in a TV interview for the first time since the end of her chancellorship in December 2021. As the Mainz broadcaster reports, the former politician has her say in the ZDF documentary “Am Puls mit Mitri Sirin”. The program will be broadcast on German Unity Day.
“Always understood as the chancellor of all Germans”
The documentary with journalist Mitri Sirin (52) gets to the bottom of the question of why Unity Day is not a real holiday for many East Germans and people with a migration background. “I am interested in the topic as such,” emphasizes Angela Merkel, according to the press release, in her first interview after becoming chancellor. Two years ago she gave one of her last speeches as Chancellor on German Unity Day. In the speech in Halle she also spoke about her experiences in the GDR. She now explains: “I probably wouldn’t have made such a personal comment during my term of office if it hadn’t come to the end, because I have always seen myself as the chancellor of all Germans.” However, the personal comment about East Germany showed her that “the conversation about it should be had again and again.”
Angela Merkel talks about her opponents
In the interview, Merkel also looks back on her time as chancellor – and the backlash she received: “There were some people who were very angry with me. That started during the time when the euro got into difficulties. ” The situation then became polarized “when a lot of refugees came to us.” She describes it as “something distressing” that “the loudest person leaves the last impression.” She believes that there is always a connection between people “who have a minority biography” – in this respect, East Germans and people with a migration background are also connected. Because there is a tendency “to take the average CV for granted. I have always advocated that our strength is diversity.”
The documentary will be shown on ZDF on Tuesday, October 3rd from 7:20 p.m. It will be available in the media library from Monday, October 2nd, 7 p.m.