Berlin - Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected Friday the suggestion that the European Union was in a crisis after the Irish rejection of the EU treaty.

Speaking to reporters at Binz on Germany's Baltic coast, Merkel said, "The situation is not an easy one. The European Union has already surmounted many difficult situations. That is why I'm quite sure that we'll find a way here to make progress."

The chancellor added that she could not yet say what a solution to the problem would look like.

Asked by a reporter if the EU was in a crisis, she said, "I don't want to use that word." Merkel was on the coast to meet with voters. (dpa)