Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany left on Thursday for her first official visit to the US determined to improve the German-American relationship. But she will have to thread her way carefully between that goal and the widely held view among Germans that the US is doing a lot of things wrong in the world.
Merkel, who was scheduled to meet with US President George W. Bush yesterday, is seen as friendlier to the US than her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, whose vehement opposition to US policy in Iraq led to the worst crisis in relations for many decades.
The Bush administration sees her as a strong potential partner who can help to bridge differences between the US and Europe.
"There is no question that Washington is meeting Angela Merkel with a positive bias following the conflicts with former Chancellor Schroeder," Karsten Voigt, the Foreign Ministry's coordinator of relations with the US, said in an interview with a German radio station.
Merkel, the first German chancellor from the former communist-ruled eastern Germany, is known to have been critical of Schroeder's blunt public criticisms of US policy, believing that major differences should be expressed instead through quiet diplomacy.
But in an interview this week with the magazine Der Spiegel, she expressed her own disagreement with the Bush administration's effort to curb terrorism, in particular over the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which many Germans contend exists outside the framework of international law.
"An institution such as Guantanamo in its present form cannot and should not exist in the long term," she was quoted as saying.
"Ways and means must be found to handle prisoners differently," Merkel said.
In Washington on Thursday night, Merkel did not mention Guantanamo, but told nearly 200 guests at the German ambassador's residence that she looked forward to a "lively debate" on issues like the balance between freedom and security in both Germany and the US.
"There will be differing opinions in certain areas," Merkel said, but they can be addressed in a spirit of friendship and cooperation.
Her two-day visit is part of a series of trips since she took office late last year that have so far included visits to most major European capitals.
Clearly the relationship with the US is central to German foreign policy, and relations have been on a slow course of improvement even as German public opinion remains unfriendly and suspicious.
"This trip represents the next step in going back to functioning and reliable German-American relations," Eberhard Sandschneider, president of the German Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview on Wednesday. The trip, in this sense, is a continuation of improved relations noted when Bush came to Germany last year, meeting Schroeder in Mainz.
"Bilaterally we have few problems," said Voigt of the Foreign Ministry.
"It's mostly a matter of how Germany and the US can work together in order to solve problems on Europe's perimeters, such as in the Balkans, or how they think about Russia or Ukraine, how they view the Middle East, and how to address Iran's ambitions to possess nuclear weapons and the scandalous statements by the Iranian leadership in regard to Israel," he said.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS