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German row over Obama speech plan

by flight737 | July 12, 2008 at 04:48 pm | 169 views | 1 comment | 5 recommendations

Barack Obama is living the American dream but he wants everyone in the world to live it as well , so a tentative plan to speak at Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate . But does everyone wants to live the dream? Well for Erwin Huber a leader of a main governing party in Germany, Obama has not played any part in German reunification so a speech at this landmark should not be allowed.

Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier said it was "a bit odd" that Mr Obama should speak at the Cold War landmark.
Mr Obama is to visit Europe and the Middle East in late July.
His campaign team said the Brandenburg Gate was one of several locations they had inquired about as the venue for a speech.
Political row
"Obama didn't do anything for German unification," Mr Huber said.
"That's not a criticism, but as a result there is no reason to grant him such a privilege," he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
Mr Huber is the head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party to Mrs Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union. The leader of the CSU traditionally plays a prominent role on the national political scene in Germany.
Mr Obama's suggestion has created a political row in Germany.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of the centre-left Social Democrats, has welcomed the idea of Mr Obama speaking at the gate.
Mr Steinmeier and Mrs Merkel are likely to face each other in an election next year