Pool/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix. Armin Laschet, federal state Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia and leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party (CDU), gestures as he speaks from the CDU headquarters in Duesseldorf, Germany, during the traditional Ash Wednesday meeting, held virtually this year due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Passau, Germany, February 17, 2021. Federico Gambarini/Pool via REUTERS