“I want to take care of other things”

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented her book of memoirs on Tuesday afternoon, Freedomat an event at the RBA Auditorium in Barcelona. At 70 years old and with an indisputable political legacy, Merkel is on an international tour to promote her work, written in collaboration with her advisor Beate Baumann. A few days ago he was in Washington, where he shared the stage with former United States President Barack Obama. Barcelona has been his only stop in Spain.

“I have titled the book Freedom because this word concentrates what has determined my life”he said at the event, in which he spoke with the German correspondent of The VanguardMaría-Paz López.

“I was born in a space without freedom, and although I was lucky to have a good family, I had to be careful not to enter into conflict”Merkel also noted. About his new life away from politics, he explained: “After 30 years I see myself freed from the duties of politics and I can do other things, like write, meet my friends or be with my family”.

And he added: “Freedom then is also very hard, you have to constantly make decisions, the State does not make them for you”. Regarding his plans, he also noted: “I have had a very rich political life. Politics has given me a lot of joy, but now I want to take care of other things”.

Her role as a woman in politics

“It was harder to be a woman”he stated. It must be remembered that the former German leader quickly joined the Government that emerged from German reunification. “It was a great fit for Helmut Kohl to fill the quota of women”he added.

In FreedomMerkel has captured, in a clear, insightful and human way, how that girl who grew up in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) ended up being the woman with the most powerful position in the reunified Germany for sixteen years. Two lives that are actually one and whose second part would not be understood without the first.

The former chancellor recalled what was a turning point in her time at the head of the German State and that encouraged her precisely to write the book so that others would not be the ones to explain and interpret what happened on the night of September 4, 2015, when she decided not to. prevent the passage of refugees, mostly Syrians, who arrived from Hungary to the German-Austrian border. For Merkel, this decision involved a before and after and she wanted to narrate in Freedom the reasons for that decision, his idea of ​​Europe and globalization.

Furthermore, throughout its pages, the author invites us to reflect on the importance of the concept of freedom that gives the work its title. Angela Merkel recalls that freedom requires democratic conditions, a rule of law and the defense of human rights and urges to preserve it from those who threaten it.

The book presentation had a large institutional presence, such as the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni; the councillors Jaume Duch, Albert Dalmau and Ramon Espadaler; the former presidents José Montilla, Artur Mas and Jordi Pujoland a wide representation of deputies and personalities from the Catalan business world. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illagreeted the former chancellor in a brief meeting before starting the presentation in the auditorium, where the president of RBA, Ricardo Rodrigoserved as host.