Category Archives: Angela Merkel

Demise of AKK throws Merkel’s placid path to retirement off course

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Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer resignation rips up CDU’s plans for post-Merkel era

The year 2020 was meant to be a relatively quiet time in Europe’s largest economy.

With regular elections only scheduled for the city state of Hamburg, where the centre-left remains strong and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) is projected to get an underwhelming 7% share of the vote, Angela Merkel’s last full year in power promised to be a stable pathway into her political retirement. A good time to focus, at last, on urgent geopolitical challenges: Trump, China, the eurozone.

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Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to quit as CDU leader amid far-right ‘firewall’ row

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Successor to Angela Merkel also says she won’t run for chancellorship of Germany

Angela Merkel’s designated successor has announced she is not planning to run for the German chancellorship at the next federal election and plans to step down as leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), German media reported on Monday morning.

The surprise announcement comes in the middle of a major row over the centre-right party’s “firewall” against the far-right, after CDU delegates in eastern Germany defied the party headquarter’s ban on cooperating with the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

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German MPs taken aback by Johnson’s hardline trade rhetoric

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In London for LSE symposium, politicians express confusion at Britain’s post-Brexit stance

A flood of senior German politicians visiting the UK this week have been left confused and unnerved by the hardline rhetoric set out by Boris Johnson on trade talks, prompting warnings that the risk of a breakdown, or a no-deal Brexit, is as high as it has ever been.

Germany takes on the EU presidency in the second half of this year, and will have a crucial role in helping the European commission to steer the talks on a future UK-EU trading relationship to a successful conclusion by the end of the transition period in December.

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The Guardian view on Libya and foreign interference: talking peace, shipping arms | Editorial

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The north African country’s population have suffered years of turmoil, fuelled by the meddling of outside players. The civil war may yet escalate

Let’s all be good. This was, in essence, the conclusion of the conference in Berlin this month which aimed to at least begin the work of ending a war which has cost thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Libya. Participants agreed that foreign meddling should cease and that everyone should abide by the UN arms embargo.

Despite the desperate need for peace, there was good reason to be cynical. The host, Angela Merkel, argued publicly with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, over what had actually been agreed. Fighting soon raged again. The UN refugee agency announced on Thursday that it is suspending all operations at a facility in Tripoli and moving refugees from the site, fearing for their safety and that of its staff and partners amid worsening conflict. The UN says that several participants in the Berlin meeting have since shipped both arms and mercenaries to Libya, blatantly violating the embargo.

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Libya: Sanctions threatened against countries who break arms embargo

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Johnson says international peacekeeping force could monitor the proposed ceasefire

World leaders seeking an enduring ceasefire in Libya have agreed at a summit to impose sanctions on those breaking an arms embargo and are considering whether to send a multinational force to the country.

The conference in Berlin of 11 countries is aimed at bringing an end to the fighting between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli led by the prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, and the Libyan National Army in the country’s east led by Gen Khalifa Haftar.

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Can Merkel and Macron get Franco-German relations back on track?

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As a year of big EU decisions begins, the bloc’s most important relationship is stuck in a rut

In early December, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel sat down opposite each other in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant at the Savoy Hotel, central London, for a two-hour tête-à-tête dinner. They had some talking to do.

Cordial and constructive, diplomats in Paris and Berlin said, the evening apparently cleared the air. But it will take more than a dinner to clear the structural obstacles to a relationship that is critical to what Europe can achieve in 2020.

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Angela Merkel visits Auschwitz for first time

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German chancellor pledges further €60m donation to Auschwitz Foundation

Angela Merkel has for the first time visited the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, site of one of the most notorious atrocities Adolf Hitler’s regime inflicted on Europe.

The German chancellor also pledged a donation of €60m (£51m) towards a fund to conserve the physical remnants of the site of the barracks, watchtowers and personal items of those who died, such as shoes and suitcases.

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Merkel government in peril as leftwing duo take charge of SPD

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New co-leaders of junior coalition partner want major concessions from Merkel’s CDU

The future of Angela Merkel’s government is in doubt after the election by her junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), of a new leftwing leadership duo who have pledged to renegotiate the terms of the alliance.

Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken, from the left of the SPD, have called for major policy concessions from Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), and say they are prepared to pull the plug on the partnership.

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Merkel successor challenges party to back her or sack her

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CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer gets ovation after ultimatum at party conference

The embattled leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats has challenged delegates at the party’s conference to back her vision or else “end it here and now”, amid deep divisions over the future direction of the party.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the CDU’s annual conference in Leipzig she was putting her future on the line in response to stinging criticism over her leadership style.

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The Guardian view on political turbulence in Germany: can the centre hold? | Editorial

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The country’s traditional powerhouses on the centre-left and the centre-right face a moment of reckoning

Postwar German politics has a reputation for being moderate, consensual and a touch on the dull side. But there have been moments of high drama. In November 1959, for example, the Social Democratic party (SPD) abandoned its historic ambition to replace capitalism with socialism, dropped the Marxist account of class struggle and began to pitch itself as a broad-based Volkspartei (people’s party). History vindicated the decision. For the next 50 years or so, the SPD vied for power with the country’s other great political force, the CDU (and its CSU Bavarian ally), as both parties regularly achieved a vote share of over 40%.

Famed for their practice of big-tent politics, what the CDU and SPD would give for such numbers now. The agonies of Brexit and the rise of rightwing populism have claimed the political limelight around Europe. But those looking for clues to the continent’s future would do well to watch Germany closely over the coming weeks.

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German leaders mark fall of Berlin Wall with warning about democracy

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President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urges allies to fight for peaceful and united Europe

Germany marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanking eastern European neighbours for enabling a peaceful revolution.

The toppling of the wall, which had divided the Communist-ruled East and the capitalist West Berlin for nearly three decades and became a potent symbol of the cold war, was followed a year later by the reunification of Germany in 1990.

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Brexit: Tusk accuses Johnson of ‘stupid blame game’ as No 10 signals talks about to collapse – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as doubts grow over future of Brexit negotiations

This is from Mujtaba Rahman, the Brexit specialist at the Eurasia consultancy.

Collapse of negotiations now leaves MPs with a huge dilemma. Do they put trust in Benn Act to be robust enough to prevent the no-deal Boris will now gravitate to? Or do they oust him in a VONC to make totally sure? Former more likely- still no sign of agreement on caretaker PM

And these are from the BBC’s Berlin correspondent, Jenny Hill.

Worth bearing in mind the following when looking at No 10’s interpretation of Merkel / Johnson call. 1. This confrontational language / style is unusual for Merkel 2. Germany - more than most - has been careful to avoid leaks / statements which wld inflame tensions between UK&EU

3. My understanding is that German govt still ready to work to find solution not least because....4. Germany doesn’t want no deal. Met president of German exporters assoc earlier - they are horrified by prospect

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Hong and Kong? Berlin’s panda cubs at centre of Chinese human rights row

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Competition to name Meng Meng’s twins intensifies pressure on German government

They may have captured the public’s imagination, but the tiny, pink panda cubs born at Berlin zoo a few days ago have also spurred a national debate about whether panda diplomacy is blinding Germany to the Chinese government’s human rights record.

As visitors and journalists queue around the block to catch a glimpse of Meng Meng’s cubs, a competition to name them has increased pressure on the government of Angela Merkel, who kicked off a trip to Beijing with a large economic delegation on Thursday.

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World leaders mark 80th anniversary of second world war with Trump absent – video

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European leaders, including Germany’s Angela Merkel, marked the 80th anniversary of the start of the second world war in Warsaw on Sunday. 

But Donald Trump – who cancelled on his Polish hosts at the last minute last week, citing concerns over a hurricane barrelling towards Florida – was due to spend the day at his golf club in Virginia.

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Brexit deal solution at risk from ticking clock, not Merkel or Macron

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With or without a 30-day deadline, the Brexit endgame will play out in London – rather than Paris or Berlin

If a week is a long time in politics, three weeks feels like an eternity in Brexit. Newly installed in No 10 in July, Boris Johnson vowed that he would not sit down for talks with EU leaders until they agreed to drop the Irish backstop from the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Less than a month later, the prime minister was in Paris and Berlin, where he heard the leaders of France and Germany pledge their support for the “indispensable” backstop – the insurance plan to avoid a hard border on Ireland that has become the stumbling block of Britain’s EU exit.

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‘Unelected PM … gambling with peace’ – Irish EU commissioner launches attack on Boris Johnson – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen

From Bloomberg’s Jess Shankleman

The pound slipped to the day's low after we reported France now sees a no-deal Brexit as the most likely outcome #gbp https://t.co/Xmvg4Lpvkf pic.twitter.com/AQcwazbBaf

This is from Jenny Hill, the BBC’s Berlin correspondent.

Sat outside German Chancellery. Slovakian president’s motorcade has just whisked her away following her first meeting with Angela Merkel. Next on the guest list, Boris Johnson in just over an hour.....

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Germany likely to head into recession, central bank warns

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Bundesbank says summer’s slump in exports is expected to continue into the autumn

Germany’s economy is heading into recession after the country’s central bank warned that a slump in exports during the summer was likely to continue into the autumn.

The Bundesbank said a downturn in orders for cars and industrial equipment in the second quarter of the year was likely to continue in the third quarter, leaving the economy on the brink of a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

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How a pan-European picnic brought down the Iron Curtain

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On 19 August 1989, Hungarians and Austrians gathered in friendship at the border, paving the way to unification

When the end finally came for the Iron Curtain, it was not bulldozers or hammers that struck one of the first decisive blows, but a picnic.

Thirty years ago this Monday, on 19 August 1989, thousands of Hungarians and Austrians gathered at the border fence between the two countries, which also marked the dividing line between the Communist bloc and the west. They had come for a “pan-European picnic” of solidarity and friendship across the Iron Curtain, as momentum for political change increased and the Eastern bloc regimes struggled to keep up with rising popular discontent.

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‘I feel fine’: Merkel dismisses health fears after shaking bouts

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German chancellor also says she feels solidarity with targets of Donald Trump’s racism

Angela Merkel has sought to assuage concerns about her health after a spate of shaking bouts at public events, saying she is feeling fine and looking forward to a healthy life when she steps down in two years.

“I understand questions about my health, and I have already given an answer to this,” said the German chancellor, who recently turned 65. “It is important that I commit myself to the responsibility of acting as head of government. I just would say you have known me for some time and I can perform this role.”

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What’s wrong with Angela Merkel? As a doctor, I will sit out the pop quiz | Ranjana Srivastava

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When someone is confronted by illness, we can’t resist being intrusive and speculative

This month my dear friend died from cancer, leaving behind a young family. A continent apart, we talked about her illness and what it meant. She told me that she wasn’t afraid of dying and I believed her because she knew the rich legacy she had created. But in the aftermath of her death a post her daughter released tore me asunder. In it, my friend recalls the reaction of strangers to her illness.

“How could you contract this disgusting illness?” one wailed. “You could easily have another five years,” shrugged another. (She just made it past one.) An acquaintance was angry at not having been told sooner. Another was perplexed by her equanimity, leading to an ambush at the elevator: “You know this is terminal, right?” Someone wanted to know the exact site of cancer. Another recalled the relative of a relative who died of exactly that kind of cancer not so long ago.

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