REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, 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 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 8 ½ 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 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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