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End of an era: Germany’s Merkel bows out after 16 years
By GEIR MOULSON
December 6, 2021
BERLIN (AP) — Angela Merkel was assured of a place in the history books as soon as she became Germany’s first female chancellor on Nov. 22, 2005.
Over the next 16 years, she was credited with raising Germany’s profile and influence, working to hold a fractious European Union together, managing a string of crises and being a role model for women.
Now that near-record tenure is ending with her leaving office at age 67 to praise from abroad and enduring popularity at home. Her designated successor, Olaf Scholz, is expected to take office Wednesday.
Or, is that designated survivor?
Merkel, a former scientist who grew up in communist East Germany, is bowing out about a week short of the record for longevity held by her one-time mentor, Helmut Kohl, who reunited Germany during his 1982-1998 tenure.
While Merkel perhaps lacks a spectacular signature achievement, the center-right Christian Democrat came to be viewed as an indispensable crisis manager and defender of Western values in turbulent times.
She served alongside four U.S. presidents, four French presidents, five British prime ministers and eight Italian premiers. Her chancellorship was marked by four major challenges: the global financial crisis, Europe’s debt crisis, the 2015-16 influx of refugees to Europe and the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s undeniable that she’s given Germany a lot of soft power,” said Sudha David-Wilp, the deputy director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Berlin office. “Undoubtedly she’s elevated Germany’s image in the world.”
“When she first came onto the scene in 2005, a lot of people underestimated her, but she grew in stature along with Germany’s role in the world,” David-Wilp added. Others in Europe and beyond “want more of an active Germany to play a role in the world — that may not have been the case before she was in office, necessarily.”
In a video message at Merkel’s final EU summit in October, former U.S. President Barack Obama thanked her for “taking the high ground for so many years.”
“Thanks to you, the center has held through many storms,” he said.
Merkel was a driving force behind EU sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, and also spearheaded so-far-unfinished efforts to bring about a diplomatic solution there. She was regarded as being “able to have a dialogue with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin on behalf of the West,” David-Wilp said.
She was steadfast in pursuing multilateral solutions to the world’s problems, a principle she set out at a military parade in her honor last week.
The global financial crisis and the migrant influx “made clear how much we depend on cooperation beyond national borders and how indispensable international institutions and multilateral instruments are to be able to cope with the big challenges of our time,” Merkel said, identifying those as climate change, digitization and migration.
And, unfortunately, she never recognized the greatest challenge of our time, that of child sexual abuse. A challenge that is destroying a generation of children, especially girls.
Nor did she recognize the sinister motives behind the migration of Muslims into Europe while most Muslim countries refused them.
That stance was a strong counterpoint to former U.S. President Donald Trump, with whom she had a difficult relationship. At their first meeting in the White House in March 2017, when photographers shouted for them to shake hands, she quietly asked Trump “do you want to have a handshake?” but there was no response from the president, who looked ahead.
Merkel dismissed being labeled as “leader of the free world” during that period, saying leadership is never up to one person or country.
Still, she was viewed as a crucial leader in the unwieldy 27-nation EU, famed for her stamina in coaxing agreements in marathon negotiating sessions.
“Ms. Merkel was a compromise machine,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said recently. When negotiations were blocked, she “mostly found something that unites us to move things along.”
That was on display in July 2020, when EU leaders clinched a deal on an unprecedented 1.8 trillion-euro ($2 trillion) budget and coronavirus recovery fund after a quarrelsome four-day summit.
At her 107th and last EU summit, European Council President Charles Michel told Merkel: “You are a monument.” A summit without her would be like “Rome without the Vatican or Paris without the Eiffel Tower,” he added.
The appreciation from her counterparts was genuine, although there was plenty of friction over the years. Merkel always sought to keep the EU as tightly knit as possible but strongly defended Germany’s interests, clashing with Greece during the debt crisis and disagreeing with Hungary, Poland and others over their refusal — unlike Germany — to host migrants arriving in Europe.
Merkel said she was bowing out of the EU “in a situation that definitely gives me cause for concern as well.”
“We have been able to overcome many crises in a spirit of respect, in an effort always to find common solutions” she said. “But we also have a series of unresolved problems, and there are big unfinished tasks for my successor.”
That’s also true at home, where her record — dominated by the crises she addressed and including a pandemic that is flaring anew as she steps down — is a mixed bag. She leaves Germany with lower unemployment and healthier finances, but also with well-documented shortcomings in digitization — many health offices resorted to fax machines to transmit data in the pandemic — and what critics say was a lack of investment in infrastructure.
She made progress in promoting renewable energy, but also drew criticism for moving too slowly on climate change. (Of course, doesn't everybody?) After announcing in 2018 that she wouldn’t seek a fifth term, she failed to secure a smooth transition of power in her own party, which slumped to defeat in Germany’s September election.
The incoming governing coalition under Scholz says it wants to “venture more progress” for Germany after years of stagnation.
Let's hope he's not talking about becoming more progressive.
But Germans’ overall verdict appears to remain favorable. During the election campaign, from which she largely was absent, Merkel’s popularity ratings outstripped those of her three would-be successors. Unlike her seven predecessors in postwar Germany, she is leaving office at a time of her choosing.
Merkel’s body language and facial expressions sometimes offered a glimpse of her reactions that went beyond words. She once lamented that she couldn’t put on a poker face: “I’ve given up. I can’t do it.”
She wasn’t intimidated by Putin’s style. The Russian president once brought his Labrador to a 2007 meeting with Merkel, who later said she had a “certain concern” about dogs after having once been bitten by one.
She was never the most glamorous of political operators, but that was part of her appeal – the chancellor continued to take unglamorous walking holidays, was occasionally seen shopping at the supermarket and lived in the same Berlin apartment as she did before taking the top job.
Named “The World’s Most Powerful Woman” by Forbes magazine for the past 10 years in a row, Merkel steps down with a legacy of breaking through the glass ceiling of male dominance in politics — although she also has faced criticism for not pushing harder for more gender equality.
Obama said that “so many people, girls and boys, men and women, have had a role model who they could look up to through challenging times.”
Former President George W. Bush, whose relationship with Merkel’s predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, soured over the latter’s opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, said that “Angela came in and changed that completely.”
“Angela Merkel brought class and dignity to a very important position and made very hard decisions ... and did so based upon principle,” Bush told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle in July. He described her as “a compassionate leader, a woman who was not afraid to lead.”
No NATO for foreseeable future, Biden to tell Ukraine – media
9 Dec, 2021 08:44
© REUTERS / Gleb Garanich
US President Joe Biden will lean on his Ukrainian counterpart to make progress on autonomy for Kiev's breakaway regions and indicate that NATO membership is off the table for at least a decade, AP has reported, citing sources.
The agency claims Biden plans to call President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, two days after his two-hour-long negotiations with Russia's Vladimir Putin. The American leader is expected to put pressure on Kiev so that it makes progress on delivering on its obligations under the Minsk Agreements, signed back in 2015.
Designed as a roadmap for reconciliation between the Ukrainian government and the Donetsk and Lugansk eastern regions, it's politically difficult for Kiev to implement due to the distaste of powerful nationalists at the compromises it demands. The Donbass rejected the outcome of the 2014 Maidan, which installed a pro-Western regime in Kiev and took up arms after the new authorities deployed military force to regain control.
Kiev claims the republics are being propped up by Russia, which has openly supported them, and has refused to deliver on its part of the peace plan, which includes a general amnesty and constitutional reform that would enshrine their greater autonomy.
Ukraine says it won’t move forward before it fully controls the regions – which the Minsk Agreement says should be the last step of the reconciliation process. Russia denies that its support for Donetsk and Lugansk goes beyond humanitarian aid, but NATO states reject this assertion.
Moscow has concerns over Ukraine’s aspiration to join the US-led military bloc, which it sees as an expansionist hostile organization that poses a threat to Russian national security. Putin has stated that the deployment of NATO missile systems on Ukrainian soil would be a red line for his country.
AP cited a senior official, who said Washington has told Ukraine that it won’t become a NATO member for at least a decade. Publicly, the Biden administration has dismissed Russia’s warning and insists Moscow has no say on whether Ukraine will join the organisation.
Some European members of the military bloc, including Germany, previously poured cold water on Kiev’s desire to join, saying it wouldn’t happen anytime soon. Post-2014 Ukraine has made the policy of seeking NATO accession part of its constitution.
The Putin-Biden conversation took place amid claims by Washington that Russia was amassing a military force of over 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine and could launch an invasion within weeks. Moscow has denied preparing such an attack and insists all its military maneuvers are defensive in nature. However, it pointed out that military action could start in Ukraine if Kiev choose to make a "provocation."
Some NATO members furious with Biden – media
10 Dec, 2021 11:46
US President Joe Biden has come under fire from Eastern European members of NATO after proposals to organize a meeting between the American-led bloc and Russia for discussions to ease the tensions between Moscow and Brussels.
That’s according to the American news agency Bloomberg, which cited an anonymous diplomat claiming that his unnamed country is furious and seeks immediate clarification on just precisely what Biden plans to discuss with Moscow.
Another source, also a diplomat, expressed concern that the US may approve concessions that might lead to “political guarantees” and “curbs on NATO’s freedom of movement.”
Biden’s announcement that he wants a meeting between NATO and Moscow came after a virtual summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Following the discussion, he spoke with the leaders of other NATO member states, such as the UK’s Boris Johnson and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
According to the US president, the future talks will include “at least four of our major NATO allies.” This has left the smaller Eastern European member states wondering if they would be excluded in favor of Western European allies, Bloomberg has claimed.
The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss Russia’s concerns about NATO enlargement and the possibility of agreeing on arrangements that would reduce tensions on the alliance’s eastern flank, Biden has said.
The increased push for discussions comes as tensions remain high on the Russia-Ukraine border. The US-led NATO bloc has warned Moscow that any military aggression against Ukraine will be met with severe financial measures, while Russia has denied all accusations that it is planning such a maneuver.
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Nord Stream 2 cannot be certified – Berlin
Europe seems determined to freeze in the dark this winter
12 Dec, 2021 21:41
Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia can’t be launched yet because it doesn’t meet EU energy requirements and there remain “safety” concerns.
Baerbock, a Green politician who assumed her role in the Foreign Ministry this week, discussed the fate of the multinational project in an interview with the broadcaster ZDF on Sunday. She insisted it still hadn’t met all that was required for it to be certified.
“As things stand at the moment, this pipeline cannot be approved because it does not meet the requirements of European energy law, and the safety issues are still on the table,” she said.
The Greens have openly opposed the pipeline and, during the recent election campaign, called for a halt to its construction. Their coalition partners from the social-democratic SPD have been more reserved in expressing their opinion of the project.
Apart from the certification hurdles, the fate of the pipeline is directly linked to politics, Germany’s new SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz has signaled, reiterating Berlin’s commitment to preserving the current transit of gas through Ukraine, for which Ukraine is remunerated by Russia.
“We continue to feel responsible for ensuring that Ukraine’s gas transit business remains successful. The same goes for future opportunities,” Scholz said during a joint press conference with Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki earlier in the day.
Scholz’s predecessor, Angela Merkel, had voiced her support for the pipeline, arguing that the project would secure a steady supply of natural gas for Europe as a whole. Merkel had similarly linked the prospects of launching the pipeline with the preservation of the current Ukrainian transit arrangement, however.
The pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea bed, has faced multiple issues during its construction, ranging from the environmental concerns raised by several European nations to the direct pressure from and sanctions levied by Washington. Pipelaying operations for Nord Stream 2 commenced back in 2018, and were completed this September, after numerous roadblocks were surmounted. The project is still not supplying natural gas to its European customers, however, and its certification process has been on hold since mid-November.
Meanwhile, the price of gas is killing some companies and leaving some people out in the cold. The west was involved in the Maidan coup which turned Ukraine violently against Russia, and now they insist that Russia be nice to Ukraine. There's some hypocrisy there, not to mention Olympic stupidity.
Just as Berlin announces approval of Nord Stream II will be delayed at least 6 months...
Europe’s largest emergency gas stockpile hits historic low
16 Dec, 2021 14:21
Natural gas storage capacity in Germany has dropped below 60% for the first time in years, Sebastian Bleschke, executive director of the German association of underground gas storage operators INES, said.
He told the Handelsblatt newspaper on Thursday that the capacity is currently about 59%, which is a “historically low level” in comparison with previous years.
“Since the real winter is yet to come, the relatively small reserves should certainly be handled with care,” Bleschke said, warning “If the withdrawal of gas from the storage facilities is the same as now, the occupancy rate [of storage facilities] will become very low in February.”
According to Handelsblatt, Germany’s nationwide gas market trading hub has announced a special tender for the purchase of natural gas in order to prevent power outages in February. Applications for participation close on Friday. A special tender is a market mechanism for securing gas supplies. Given the current market situation, gas purchases will be “definitely a challenge,” said Bleschke.
Germany has the largest natural gas storage capacity in the EU. Earlier, the European Commission proposed to set up a mechanism where EU countries could carry out joint voluntary purchases of natural gas to fill the underground storage facilities.
European energy prices continued to rise this week after Germany delayed the certification of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which could provide additional supplies of natural gas to the continent.
I wonder how much that delay in certification of Nord Stream II will cost Europe, especially if this turns into a cold winter.
And just when you want to spend Christmas on the riviera...
France bans UK tourists
16 Dec, 2021 09:54
Paris has said it will ban UK tourists from entering France in an attempt to slow the spread of the more contagious Omicron variant on Covid-19, which is already rampant in Britain.
Speaking on Thursday, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said applying tougher rules on people traveling from the UK would give France more time to prepare for the forthcoming wave of infections.
France will prohibit all travel from the UK unless there is a compelling reason for it. Travel for the purpose of tourism and business will be banned, Paris said in a statement.
“We are going to put in place more drastic controls at the border with the UK,” Attal said in an interview with France’s BFMTV. The measures, to be unveiled by the prime minister’s office later on Thursday, will include reducing the age of a valid PCR test from 48 hours to 24 hours for those arriving from the UK. The change will come into force from Saturday regardless of vaccination status.
The move comes after Britain recorded its highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day on Wednesday, although it is worth noting that testing capacity was greatly reduced during the first wave of the virus in 2020.
Increasing Covid-19 cases in the UK have been partially blamed on the arrival of the Omicron variant. British Transport Minister Grant Shapps confirmed on Thursday that hauliers would be exempt from the French restrictions.
