World

One German Take on Merkel's Visit to the White House - Success

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | June 27, 2009 at 04:33 am

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Chancellor Angela Merkel was guest at the White House yesterday. There have been ongoing speculations that there was a distant relationship between the two leaders.

During Friday's visit both Merkel and Obama demonstrated solidarity and unity on all issues, even in those areas where conflict seemed to have existed earlier. Both leaders condemned the brutality of the regime in Iran against its citizens and vowed to continue the talks on preventing Iran from going forward with its nuclear program.

After a first round of talks, Obama said that Merkel was a friend. He praised her Wisdom and Openness. He said she was smart and he trusted her judgment. When the President was asked about his relationship to Germany, he said that Germany had a warm spot in his heart. He reminisced of his speech at the Victory Memorial in Berlin and the 100,000 that cheered him.

The American President, who had just visited Germany three weeks ago, praised the German commitment in Afghanistan and mentioned the three soldiers, who were killed in Kundus just last week in the course of duty.

Merkel on her part said that she had a fundamental interest in Obama's success. She offered her support for Obama in all areas, particular the global economic meltdown. She said she had watched with interest how President Obama was able to open doors.

As an aside the US House of Representatives passed the Cap and Trade Bill 219-212 last evening. This is will be welcomed by Europe.

It appears that this visit was very successful and should go a long way to normalize relations with the EU.

Nach anhaltenden Spekulationen über ein distanziertes Verhältnis demonstrierten beide am Freitag beim ersten Besuchs Merkels bei Obama im Weißen Haus Einigkeit bei allen Themen, auch dort, wo vorher Konflikte vermutet worden waren. Beide verurteilten die Gewalt im Iran, signalisierten, dass sie vorerst an den Verhandlungen über das Atomprogramm Teherans festhalten wollen.

Obama bezeichnete Merkel nach einer ersten Gesprächsrunde als «meine Freundin». «Ich mag sie sehr gern.» Er lobte ihre «Weisheit» und «Offenheit». Sie sei smart, «und ich vertraue ihr, wenn sie etwas sagt». Nach seinem Verhältnis zu Deutschland befragt, sagte Obama, dass das Land einen «warmen Platz» in seinem Herzen habe und erinnerte an seinen Auftritt an der Berliner Siegessäule im Sommer vergangenen Jahres, wo er von Hunderttausenden umjubelt worden war.

Der US-Präsident, der Merkel erst vor drei Wochen in Dresden getroffen hatte, würdigte den deutschen Beitrag in Afghanistan. Er sprach von einer starken Partnerschaft und erinnerte mit Blick auf den jüngsten Tod von drei deutschen Soldaten in Kundus an den Dienst der Deutschen.