Merkel for the last time delivered a speech as the chancellor in Hanover

As Merkel herself said in her farewell speech, it was "a great honor" for her to present the exhibition to international guests as German Chancellor.

“The pandemic, unfortunately, requires a little more restraint and patience from us all, but I want to say that I would meet all of you with great pleasure today in Hanover, since this is my last speech as German Chancellor at the Hannover Messe”, - he quotes RIA Novosti statement by Merkel.

Angela Merkel, elected Federal Chancellor of Germany on November 22, 2005, became the first woman to hold this office. Since 2006, she has taken part in the Hanover Fair every year. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition was held in an unusual "hybrid" format: some of the presentations were switched online.

Back in the summer of last year, Merkel announced that she would no longer run for chancellor in the parliamentary elections to be held in Germany in September 2021. She also refused to run for president of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. In January, the Prime Minister of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet became the leader of the CDU.

It is expected that in addition to him in the next elections, the leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) Markus Zeder may also become a candidate for the post of chancellor from the conservative CDU / CSU bloc.