German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed as "nonsense" a report that she had decided Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of the governing Christian Democrats (CDU), is not up to succeeding her as German chancellor.
"I can only say that that's nonsense," Merkel told reporters at the end of an EU summit in Brussels. "And I've dealt intensively with nonsense during my many years of political activity so I don't want to comment any further."
"Everyone I know in the CDU is committed to freedom of opinion as a basic principle," Politico cited Merkel as saying.
Citing two unnamed people with knowledge of her thinking, Bloomberg reported that Merkel had given up hope that Kramp-Karrenbauer, who took over from the chancellor as CDU leader last year, could step up to become the next head of government.
In recent days, critics have accused Kramp-Karrenbauer of mounting an attack on freedom of speech after she suggested a debate about rules on how “opinion is manufactured” online.
