BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives agreed on Monday to back Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Germany's next president, creating a vacancy at the foreign ministry at a critical moment in relations with Russia and the United States. Merkel's camp had hoped to promote its own candidate but chose to back political rival Steinmeier to avoid a long fight with his party, its partner in the ruling 'grand coalition'.
The chancellor's desire to show a unified front gained new urgency after the US election of populist Republican Donald Trump, at a time when anti-establishment parties are taking root across Europe and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has made rapid gains in regional elections. Whoever replaces Steinmeier as foreign minister will inherit an overflowing in-tray as Germany tries to unite a divided post-Brexit European Union, contain an assertive Russia and work out a new relationship with Washington under Trump's presidency.
Social Democrat leader Sigmar Gabriel said it was premature to talk about a successor, but media reports suggested European Parliament President Martin Schulz could be in the frame. Schulz has in recent weeks criticised Turkey over human rights and taken a firm line towards Britain over its pending departure from the EU. Last week he said he hoped for "rational cooperation" with Trump, whom he had previously described as "not only a problem for the EU but also for the whole world".
Monday's decision paves the way for Steinmeier to be elected on Feb. 12 to the largely ceremonial post now held by Joachim Gauck, a Lutheran pastor who made his mark as an anti-communist leader in the former East Germany.
Both of Gauck's predecessors in the job had resigned, creating headaches for Merkel. BRIDGE-BUILDER "We want to work with Frank-Walter Steinmeier to ensure Germany remains successful and that our society sticks together," said Peter Tauber, general secretary of Merkel's CDU.
"He has shown in the past that he seeks to bridge differences and works for compromise, even at difficult times." Steinmeier, now serving in his second stint as foreign ministry, is liked and respected in Germany despite losing out as the SPD's chancellor candidate in 2009.
His popularity surged in 2010 when he took a break from politics to donate a kidney to his sick wife. Last month, his approval ratings surpassed Merkel's by five percentage points. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder welcomed the news.
"Especially in these increasingly difficult times, it is good to have an experienced foreign policy expert as president," the Social Democrat told Reuters TV.
Gauck's term expires in March, six months before Germany holds a parliamentary election. Merkel, 62, is widely expected to run for a fourth term as chancellor, and a poll last week showed more than half of Germans want her to do so.
Steinmeier raised concerns among US and NATO officials earlier this year when he said Western military exercises in eastern Europe could be seen as "sabre-rattling" against Russia. He has pushed hard to end fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and condemned Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
At the same time, he backs continued dialogue with Russia, a view shared by Trump.
The president is not directly elected by the people, but rather by the Federal Convention, an assembly of members of the federal parliament and delegates from state parliaments.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.