"Some observers in Germany believe that with this comparison, he meant to suggest that Germany has first-world problems which pale in comparison to the world's poorest places. At the event, Merz spoke about the numerous challenges facing German society: the increasingly unaffordable pension system, the crumbling infrastructure and the polarization of society. He then connected this to his brief impression of Belem, which is among the poorest places in Brazil. In Brazil, his words were received quite differently."
"It's a tradition for German heads of government to at least briefly attend United Nations climate conferences. Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his predecessor Angela Merkel did so, and current Chancellor Friedrich Merz from the conservative Christian Democratic Union(CDU) was no exception. That's why he flew to Belem, the city in northern Brazil on the Amazon River, where this year's climate conference is being held."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz briefly attended the United Nations climate conference in Belem, Brazil, flying there for only a few hours amid domestic political pressures including an intra-party dispute over state pension subsidies. At a Berlin trade conference after his return, he contrasted life in Germany with conditions in Belem by recounting that journalists on the trip declined to stay. He framed Germany's challenges — unaffordable pensions, crumbling infrastructure and social polarization — as pressing. Belem's mayor, Igor Normando, denounced the comparison as arrogant and prejudiced, and reactions differed markedly between Germany and Brazil.
Read at www.dw.com
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