German Chancellor Skeptical Of Obama Speech Plan

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has signaled unease over the prospect of a possible speech by Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama at Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Merkel has "only limited understanding for using the Brandenburg Gate as an election campaign backdrop, as it were, and has expressed skepticism about pursuing such plans," Thomas Steg, a spokesman for the chancellor, told reporters.

However, Steg stressed that the chancellor is "very happy" for Obama to visit Germany and meet her and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Berlin city officials said this week that members of the Democratic candidate's campaign had contacted them about what permission and security issues would need to be resolved before Obama could speak in front of the monument.

The Obama campaign has refused to provide specifics on his plans during an upcoming visit to Europe and the Middle East, including the candidate's interest in a possible event at the Brandenburg Gate.

"Senator Obama looks forward to his visit to Germany and his opportunity to meet with the chancellor," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. "He has considered several sites for a possible speech, and he will choose one that makes most sense for him and his German hosts."

The gate stood for 28 years behind the Berlin Wall in communist East Germany's heavily fortified border zone. Probably the capital's best-known monument, it was once a symbol of Germany's Cold War division and now stands for its reunification.

Steg noted that the Brandenburg Gate has become "a place with a particular exclusivity, intensity and symbolism" in view of past speeches by sitting U.S. presidents and events such as a large rally in solidarity with the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

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As a result, he said Merkel has voiced "great skepticism as to whether it is appropriate to bring an election campaign being fought not in Germany but in the United States to the Brandenburg Gate."

Steg said that "no German (chancellor) candidate would think of using (Washington's) National Mall or Red Square in Moscow for rallies, because it would be considered inappropriate."

He stressed that giving permission to use the venue is a matter not for Merkel's government, but for Berlin city authorities. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit said Tuesday that he would be "delighted" for Obama to appear at the Brandenburg Gate or elsewhere.

In a famous 1987 speech that used the gate as a backdrop, President Reagan urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "open this gate" and "tear down this wall."

In 1994, four years after German reunification, President Clinton spoke on the other, formerly eastern, side of the gate _ declaring that "Berlin is free."

Organizers of Obama's campaign have said he is planning two foreign trips this summer, including stops in the Middle East and major European capitals, in an effort to boost his foreign policy credentials as he prepares for the November election against Republican John McCain.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said there had been contacts with the German Embassy in Washington regarding Obama's trip. He said that, while German officials suggested that he could visit landmarks such as Berlin's Holocaust Memorial, the Cold War-era Checkpoint Charlie border crossing and the Brandenburg Gate, they had made no recommendations on any venue for a possible Obama speech.

Comments

[nellie]

Ire? I didn't see the Ire. Did I miss it?

[bygollymissmolly]

Nope, just another HP loaded headline. They are becoming famous for it.

[ObserverinVancouver]

Maybe your headline writers could do a little soul searching and resolve to create headlines that reflect the actual content of the stories.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

Don't hold your breath neighbor ( ObserverinWhatcomCo.)

[lily31]

Merkel's analogy doesn't apply here as many have pointed out.

Has she forgotten how the US Army airlift flights ~ hundreds a day for weeks ~ prevented the Russians from blockading the American sector of Berlin and the complete takeover of Berlin by the Russians, That wise, courageous and decisive action by a past US Presient showed the world our commitment to freedom. It also forged a lasting bond between our country and Berlin's,'

N,ow more than ever, the world needs to know the arroganct use of power and the dumb war we find ourselves in will not be repeated by this future President.,

[Steeevyo]

Maybe Merkel also knows that the Americans, we have so many things to be grateful for, do not only consist of Democrats and their presidential candidates, but also of Repulicans independents non voters etc. etc.
If Obama uses the site before he is elected it might come of as arrogant and pretentious to many. Not in Germany but in the US. And it will give the GOP the opportunity of a lifetime.
I can already see many negative ads running up and down the TV channels in my head.
They did it with Kerry, they will do it again.
You have to think like the enemy before you make your decisions.
I am sure they will rectify this.

[Fritzchen]

Exactly. He has absolutely nothing to gain from this.
And the Republicans can say: "Remember who got the Germans all excited the last time?"
I simply cannot understand how some people can think of this as snobbery on the German side. Merkel could be flattered senseless by this. I dislike her profoundly, but here she got it right.

Steeevyo, I like how you lay out your arguments here. And not just because I do tend to agree with you. :-)

[HermioneGranger]

Merkel is from the East; she used to have leading position within the FDJ, a communist youth organization.

The way the Easterners were re-educated after WWII is that the Soviets freed Europe from Fascism and that the Red Army were the real liberators, while the Americans did business with the Nazis.

[Liberoservative]

"The Brandenburg Gate is not only a symbol of division and reunification; it was also the site of many other events in German history, a history characterized by so many peaks and troughs."

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtml

Exactly why h wants to use the symbolic backdrop.... I find it hard to believe that the Chancellor has "only limited understanding for using the Brandenburg Gate as an election campaign backdrop, as it were, and has expressed skepticism about pursuing such plans," Thomas Steg, a spokesman for the chancellor, told reporters.

Kind of odd for a political leader to not understand the history of her own country? Maybe they do politics differently in Germany..

[iseebs]

"Kind of odd for a political leader to not understand the history of her own country?"

I bet the German chancellor knows and understands the German history much better than our president understands the American history. I would even go so far to claim that Fr Merklel knows the American history better than he does.

She is afraid that speaking in front of the Brandenburger gate would be used in negative adds in US.
Or she is afraid that Mc. Cain wants to do the same. What an insult to the Gate !!
Smart Girl - very diplomatic !!

[Liberoservative]

Good point... but I doubt that McCain could even hope to copy Obama in a speech to the German and American people on division and unity. McCain has no clue....

No matter where Obama speaks, I am sure that there will be thousands of Germans listening.... I wonder how they will do the translation thingie?

[BushBites]

The old bag has a point.

[prochange]

If a German (European) politician would chose Washingon Mall for a political speech, nobody would show up because in this country the media does not inform the people about what is going on in other countries and people would have no idea, who that candidate is, plus they would not know about the event because the media would not tell them. Unless of course Bush would have given this politician a public backrub first or that person would have married a supermodel recently, than there would be slight chance that a few people would have heard about an European politician.

Security for Obama at the Brandenburg Tor would cost Germany a hell of a lot of money. Is the Obama campaign paying for it?

[cleffnote]

It's absurd for one of our Senators to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. Maybe a President, but dang it, he hasn't been elected yet. Patience is a virtue, I wish he would wait, this looks nuts.

[08POL]

This is almost a non-story. The headline here is bigger than the details. Ref : the use of the word "Ire" = Sensationalism

Arrangements and negotiations for an Itnerary are clearly taking place. Nothing unusual is happening here.

The obama campaign is seeking an ideal and advantageous backdrop for an appearance by their candidate considering their current Obama image strategy and the apparent popularilty in that part of the world of the phenomenon of his candidacy.

Security for Mr. Obama would be crucial: Germany is home to vibrant militant right wing or rather racist groups. Even if the threat to BO's safey were negligible, then:

Any reported representation or demonstration by these groups impact Germany and may skew her image in the eyes of world.

Also It may just be inappropriate to make speeches from the Brandenburg Gate considering its national significance. That's fine. Nice idea, didn't fly ... Move on!

[miami]

The "original and true message of the gate," as ScandalousCandice describes is not to be a caulous photo op for Sen. Obama. If Sen. Obama truly understood the message of that gate his supporters in Texas would not be working furiously to shut down testimony in this state. Sen. Obama wants to go to a place that heard "Tear down this wall," then Sen. Obama better support Dem. Texans who are trying to tear down the wall in Texas. Photo-Op, Sen. Obama vs. substance in Texas? Photo-op is easier. Change is a great deal harder.

[Ides]

Why would he give a speech to Germans from the shores of Lake Travis?

[miami]

Ides, I was referring to the symbolism of freedom and democracy that this Germany site represents. In harsh contrast, Sen. Obama's supporters in Texas are working hard to ensure that Texans cannot testify before a Texan committee; cannot know how to file written testimony; cannot appear before the committee. Apparently, you don't know how Sen. Obama's supporters have suppressed expression before the committee. I guess the next thing you will ask is "what committee?"

[CarolinaDem]

But we want a wall AROUND Texas so they can't any of them get out ever again.

[leftoflennon]

Lemme see Bush ally Angela....

U can't stop him Chancellor!

[Steeevyo]

Angela Merkel is the one who understands that american german relations dont depend on personalities but on continuity.
She is definitely not Bush's ally. Under her government the defense secretary repeatedly and thoroughly denied requests from the Bush government to suplly more troops to Afghanistan.
She spoke up against Guantanamo when she was in Washington etc.
She is a representative of her people and she does a great job by valuing the importance of US German relations against German self interest.
She does it modest and with dignity and she doesnt need to use the Germans latent antiamerican sentiments to score cheap political points like the former chancellor did (whom i voted for twice, before he unfortunately became a divider on transatlantic issues)

[HermioneGranger]

Merkel is very cautious, but according to what I was picking up she was a Hillary-supporter.

I think she hates Bush's guts. She is very careful not be be seen in fotos with him, expect is she has to.

[m03rl]

Haha the thing is McCain couldnt speak at the Brandenburger Gate as it would come to massive Protests...which is not to likely at an Obama speach. But one things for shure....many german politicians would be really pissed of , cause they ( especially the mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit ) could use Obama to shapen up his party´s (SPD) image...as the polls for the upcoming election in 2009 ar forseeing a desaster for the SPD.

[Steeevyo]

As a longtime SPD supporter i can only say that the state this party is in not even Obama can change anything about it.
Not only because this party is way too leftist for an american progressive.

[Sarahjan]

paganmist

hello sister, but Angela Merkel has put Obama on notice that he is symbolically out of place! You want to see how Americans in Europe always show being out of place yet act arrogant as though they know what they are doing, see any of Federico Fellini films[you can count on see an American in Europe with bad accent and worse maners] or, Battle of Algiers or any other classic European films.

I thought Obama will not commit this sin! Oh well. Alas, he is learning the difference between the aesthetic taste of America, including politics, and that of the "Old Europe". America has military power, Europe has "old" traditions. I take European prudence over American lack of political subtleties any day. This was an unfortunate diplomatic Faux pas for Obama.

[starboymikey]

hello sister, but Angela Merkel has put Obama on notice that he is symbolically out of place!
__________________________________________________________________

Of course, if John McCain, the last of our old cold warriors went, you'd probably think that was just so cool.

[JeffersonState]

0bama would get a larger, more enthusiastic crowd than Merkel herself could muster at the same location.

Jealous?

[JadedAggie]

The problem with the analogy presented by the German Administration is that the National Monument in the US holds no significance to the German people. By contrast the Bradenburg Gate holds enormous significance to Germans, Western Europeans, and Americans.

[Steeevyo]

If his staff follow the german media closely which i hope they will step back from the idea.

[HermioneGranger]

Good point. It is actually hard to come up with a equally symbolic place.

Maybe, if a German politician campaigning for an election would give a speech at the World-Trade-Center site.

[Tommygun264]

Looks like George W's back rubs were more effective than we originally thought. Or could it be President Bush promised to stop trying to feel Chancellor Merkel up if she would do him this little favor?

[jerkzilla]

What's the problem, Angela? It's not as if he's going to give you an uninvited backrub like the guy we've got now.