Overview
- Friedrich Merz said he could not find a “decent” piece of bread at a hotel breakfast in Luanda, a remark captured in a Deutsche Welle video.
- The line was delivered while Merz visited a bakery in Hamburg after traveling to Angola for a European Union–African Union leaders’ meeting.
- Earlier this month, Merz said journalists were content to leave Belém after COP30 in a speech the German government made public.
- Brazilian officials, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, reacted to the Belém comment, and Merz later said he plans to learn more about the city on a future visit after meeting Lula in Johannesburg during the G20.
- Current coverage presents the bread remark and the Belém statement as part of a pattern of socially awkward or controversial comments by the chancellor.