German Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen shaking for a second time in just over a week — renewing concerns about her health.
Merkel appeared to clasp her arms to keep still for about two minutes on Thursday as she stood alongside German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an indoor event with the new justice minister.
The 64-year-old rejected a glass of water she was offered and appeared all right when she arrived in parliament about 30 minutes later.
Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told news agency dpa that she would be leaving as scheduled later Thursday for the annual G20 summit in Japan.
“Everything is going ahead as planned. The chancellor is fine,” he said.
On June 18, Merkel’s whole body shook as she stood outside in hot weather alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Merkel rejects a glass of water offered to her after she was seen shaking.Getty ImagesShe later said she was fine after drinking three glasses of water, which she “apparently needed” because of dehydration.
German privacy laws are very strict on health information and it is not publicly known if Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005, has any physical problems.
Hot weather has continued in Germany this week, though outdoor temperatures in Berlin dropped considerably overnight after peaking around 99 degrees on Wednesday.
The chancellor has rarely had to cut back her work schedule much, though she did so for a few weeks in 2014 when she cracked her pelvis while cross-country skiing in Switzerland.
Last year, she said she won’t seek a fifth term as chancellor and won’t seek any other political office after her current term ends in 2021.
With Post wires
