Merz criticized the Germans' attitude to work and urged them to work harder.

On January 15, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the attitude of Germans to work and called on the country's residents to work more.

"With such a balance between work and personal life and a four-day work week, the prosperity of our country that we have today will not be able to be preserved in the future. And that's why we have to work harder," NTV quoted him as saying.

He added that Swiss residents work an average of 200 hours longer per year than Germans, although there are no "genetic differences" between the countries' citizens.

"Labor costs in our country are simply too high, and we must reduce this figure," Merz said.

Not for citizens: Germany may review benefits system

Merz stated the impossibility of the German economy to maintain the status of Germany as a welfare state

Alice Weidel, co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) opposition party, said on January 13 that the accelerating increase in the number of bankruptcies in Germany, including among large enterprises, could lead to the collapse of the German economy.

The Bild newspaper, citing data from an INSA institute survey, reported on January 6 that Merz was in the penultimate place in the ranking of the 20 most popular German politicians. It was noted that on a scale from 0 to 10, the Chancellor was given an average score of 3.5 points.

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