German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the media at the end of an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, early Thursday, July 17, 2014
Brussels:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's 60th birthday got off to a less-than-melodious start.
A German television reporter launched into a rendition of "Happy Birthday, Liebe Bundeskanzlerin (Dear Chancellor)" at a news conference in Brussels early on Thursday but got no backup from his colleagues.
Merkel laughed and said: "I should have sung along, then it would have been better. But thank you."
Merkel, who has led Germany for eight and a half years, said her European Union colleagues at their summit "didn't sing, they just gave me flowers, that was nice too and champagne."
The chancellor officially marks her birthday later on Thursday with a reception at her party's headquarters in Berlin, where German historian Juergen Osterhammel is to deliver a lecture.
A German television reporter launched into a rendition of "Happy Birthday, Liebe Bundeskanzlerin (Dear Chancellor)" at a news conference in Brussels early on Thursday but got no backup from his colleagues.
Merkel laughed and said: "I should have sung along, then it would have been better. But thank you."
Merkel, who has led Germany for eight and a half years, said her European Union colleagues at their summit "didn't sing, they just gave me flowers, that was nice too and champagne."
The chancellor officially marks her birthday later on Thursday with a reception at her party's headquarters in Berlin, where German historian Juergen Osterhammel is to deliver a lecture.
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