Mr Laschet is the governor of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. Expand Close Annalena Baerbock (Markus Schreiber/AP) / FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsapp Annalena Baerbock (Markus Schreiber/AP)Ms Baerbock, who lacks government experience, is making the Greens’ first run for the chancellery. The campaign so far has seen missteps by both Mr Laschet and Ms Baerbock, helping give some momentum to Mr Scholz. Expand Close Armin Laschet (Markus Schreiber/AP) / FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsapp Armin Laschet (Markus Schreiber/AP)Mr Laschet described what happened as “a disaster for the West, also a disaster for the German government” and used it to renew a call for a “national security council” to improve decision-making in Germany. Mr Scholz pointed to government efforts to enable those who could not be evacuated in recent days to leave.

Source: Irish Independent August 29, 2021 21:11 UTC