Merkel Took Questions For 90 Minutes And Was Asked Nothing About Brexit
Merkel Took Questions For 90 Minutes And Was Asked Nothing About Brexit
(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel was asked about everything from migration and trade conflicts to defending Montenegro at a lengthy news conference -- just not about Brexit.
The topic that’s non-stop news in the U.K. simply didn’t come up during her allotted 90 minutes with reporters in Berlin on Friday, where Merkel sought to close the books on a tumultuous four months in German politics before heading off on her summer vacation.
While Merkel regularly says she favors maintaining close economic ties with the U.K. and her government has set out red lines for the Brexit negotiations, the topic rarely excites the general public.
One reason may be that Germans are among the most pro-European people on the continent, with 79 percent saying they view EU membership as good for the country, according to a Eurobarometer poll published in May.
A select group of German cabinet ministers that sets Brexit policy has met only five times since January 2017, most recently on Wednesday after May presented her blueprint for the U.K.’s future relationship with the EU.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Czuczka in Berlin at aczuczka@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Chad Thomas
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