BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has dismissed a report claiming she has concluded the new leader of her centre-right party isn’t up to leading the country. Merkel handed over the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in December and said she wouldn’t seek a fifth term as chancellor. Her Union bloc hasn’t made up ground in polls, though, and in Sunday’s European Parliament election had its worst result in a nationwide vote since World War II. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported, citing two unidentified officials, that Merkel has decided Kramp-Karrenbauer isn’t up to Germany’s top job. Asked about that late Tuesday, Merkel replied: “I can only say that is nonsense.”

Source: National Post May 29, 2019 10:07 UTC