Angela Merkel canceled commitments for three weeks after injury

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, broke her hip while she was cross-country skiing, during her holidays in Engadin, Switzerland. The spokesman Steffen Seibert reported today.

The accident occurred in the last days of 2013. According to Seibert, Merkel believed at first that the fall had only caused a contusion, but the subsequent medical examination revealed that it was a partial fracture.

The leading Democrat (CDU), of 59 years, “will have to rest over the next three weeks” and will require a walker for support. During that period, she will be forced to cancel trips and numerous commitments and will perform much of the work from her home, said Seibert.

Cancelled commitments include the trip to Poland that Merkel was scheduled to carry out on Wednesday and reception in Berlin to the new Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, on thursday.