German politicians, as we know, are European keepers of the word financial rigor. But their frugality seems to end where caring for one’s body and image begins, at least according to spending with public money that has surfaced in the German media: Among them is the 55,000 euro bill that Angela paid. Since Merkel left the government at the end of 2021, she has made the state pay for her hairdressing and beauty services. A kind of annual salary that the former chancellor receives in exchange for official representation commitments.
In fact, after their term expires, former chancellors can continue to officially represent their country. And obviously at the expense of the state. But the man who went down in history for austerity in the Eurozone breaks all cost records compared to his predecessors: As part of the “continuation of official duties”, Merkel has an office with nine permanent employees and enjoys several advantages: a blue car claims access to the State budget. German newspaper Tagesspiegel writes that staff alone costs several hundred thousand euros a year.
The most striking expenditure is undoubtedly the hair and make-up: again, according to Tagesspiegel, the former chancellor relied on a hairdresser and beautician who also worked as a fashion designer in Berlin. He spent 37,780 euros in 2022, or more than 3,000 euros per month. In 2023, the bill has so far reached 17,200 euros. Too much for the German taxpayers association, which, through its president, Reiner Holznagel, wants costs to be “minimised and paid privately in case of doubt”. For Merkel, as for other politicians.
For example, these days there are news that another hawk of rigor, the Bavarian leader Markus Soeder, used 180,000 euros in public money for photo shoots (obviously on him) alone in 2022, exceeding 36 thousand euros. rich German soil pays for those who should be official photographers. But at the start of the year, the nearly 40,000 euros incumbent leader Olaf Scholz’s premiership spent on hair and makeup in 2022 had raised quite a few eyebrows. Overall, the entire Berlin government invested 1.5 million euros last year for photographers, hairdressers and make-up artists. 80% more than the previous year, which was the last year of the Merkel era.
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Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
