BERLIN: Angela Merkel has dismissed claims in a new book that she was more actively committed to East Germany’s communist regime than she has acknowledged, saying she has never kept anything secret about her past.
The book, “The first life of Angela M.”, says that Merkel, who will seek a third term as chancellor in a federal election in September, was responsible for Marxist-Leninist education in a unit of the state’s youth wing, in a role that went beyond the cultural duties she has previously spoken of.
Asked about the claims late on Sunday after a screening of her favourite film, a 1973 East German love story, Merkel said she had always spoken openly and to the best of her memory.
“I can only fall back on my memories. You just have to accept this... if something else turns up, then I can live with it,” said the 58-year-old chancellor. “What is important to me is that I never kept anything secret.”
German media have had a field day printing pictures of Merkel, who is extremely protective of her private sphere, as a willowy 20-something on Baltic beach holidays, tending a camp fire or drinking with student friends.
REUTERS
