What is the matter with Merkel?

It's such a shame for this poor woman as try as she might when standing still she can't control those shakes.
Of course you're going to deny that anything's wrong IF it is alcohol-related.

I agree EllanVannin she is almost trying too hard to control the shakes, but I guess that's a natural response. Yesterday she could be seen repeating the same word over and over again as if to calm herself.
It's strange how she then walks off almost as though nothing had happened?

Ellianne you can walk normally if the intention is to hide something.

There is quite clearly something wrong with her, and I think it would be far better if she came clean about exactly what the problem is.

Speculation is inevitable with a public figure isn't it, so I don't think she is helping herself with insisting that all is well, when we can all see that quite obviously that isn't the case.

I think she is stressed.

If it's alcohol then why isn't Junker a quivering heap of jelly?

I think she is heading for a breakdown. Poor woman. Things haven't been going too well for her at home, and now she probably feels it is all coming to an end.

Jennifer I agree, it would be better if she just said what the problem is, it could be something mild but annoying for her and in that case why not just say so.
She was shaking really badly the other day.

A man can hold his drink more than a woman can Callistemon.

Definitely not alcohol.

this was kind The Danish Prime Minister sat down with her during welcoming ceremony.

Did they say it was a neurological disorder? I think I read that somewhere. I hope she can be treated.

Gonegirl - in the political atmosphere we are all experiencing at the moment, this photo of the two women sat side.by side in this dignified solution made me feel quite sad

Why did it? It's kind.

That’s why it made me sad - how rare kindness is.

To be kind is to recognise that the world is messy and imperfect, and that sometimes the things we want conflict with what will make other people happy, and that when that happens, it is better to be kind. More than that, it is to see other people as having dignity, and to see that dignity reflected back in ourselves; not owed, but given freely.

Kurt Vonnegut’s pronouncement on kindness, written as a missive addressed to new babies just arriving on Earth .....treats being in the world as both a great leveller and a state of duty.

“There’s only one rule that I know of, babies,” he write “God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”

Sorry couldn’t put above into italics- it’s a quote from a newspaper article

Yes. I agree it's good to be kind.

Of course it’s not alcohol People with tremors don’t stop as quickly as they start
Perhaps she hasn’t ‘come clean’ because she doesn’t know Some things don’t have a standard answer or maybe she’s undergoing tests with no answers yet
I just hope she’s ok, poor lady

I admire Angela Merkel, not for her policies but for her tenacity and mental strength.
I hope she finds a solution to her trembling.

I wonder if she is suffering some kind of pain and standing makes it worse which leads to the shaking.Poor lady hope it is nothing serious.

Google Essential Tremor that's what it seems like.

Yes, that seems feasible Firecracker

My DH has an essential tremor. It's not like that, but there are probably different forms of it.

My dad, uncle and grandfather all have/had one in their hands and arms and I have a slight one in my hand. My granny also had one in her head. They look/looked very different from Merkel’s in that they are confined to one part of the body and don’t stop and start like that - but perhaps there are different types as Gone says. Who knows though, apart from her, her family and doctor - it could be any number of things.