BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel, asked if she thought Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder was a strong candidate to succeed her as German chancellor, declined to comment directly, saying only that Bavaria has a good leader.
Merkel was speaking at a joint news conference with Soeder after attending a meeting of the wealthy southern state’s cabinet in a castle in the middle of a lake. Soeder and Markus Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, are seen as leading candidates for the conservative chancellor ticket.
Merkel’s visit was widely presented as a symbolic coronation of Soeder, but Merkel said she would accept invitations from other state premiers.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Michelle Martin)
