Announcing she intends to run for a fourth term today, 62-year-old German Chancellor Angela Merkel showed why she’s the odds-on favorite to win. Only last week, Merkel closed the deal on 66-year-old German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeir to replace retiring German President Joachim Gauk. Moving Steinmeir from Foreign Minister to President assures Merkel and easy path to her fourth term. Steimeir, head of the Social Democrat Party [SPD], looked to challenge Merkel until Gauk retired leaving open the relatively powerless presidency. Merkel cleverly offered Steinmeir the job, essentially taking away her main rival. Merkel’s been under heavy fire since pushing Germany to take some 1 million Syrian refugees. Merkel pushes Germany to show more open-mindedness about taking more Syrian refugees while backing policies to keep the Syrian war going.
Merkel acts as if she’s all for peace but backs the six-year-old Saudi proxy war seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Merkel’s pushed other European members to take their share of Syrian immigrants, despite stiff resistance from Polish President Andrzj Duda, Hungary President Viktor Orban and Czech President Milos Zeman, all rejecting Merkel’s calls to take more Mideast and North African refugees. Watching the U.K. end its membership in the EU June 23 was a blow to Merkel’s leadership, pressing EU members to take more refugees. Instead of pressuring EU members to take more refugees, Merkel should have spent her time more wisely finding a fix to the Syrian War. Meeting with President Barack Obama in Berlin Nov. 16, Merkel hoped President-Elect Donald Trump would follow the same globalist agenda as his predecessor.
Merkel and other EU leaders are in for a big surprise with Trump. Trump’s already signaled the U.S. won’t be entering agreements or pushing the NATO alliance unless the EU ponies up more cash for U.S. defense services. Maneuvering Steinmeir into the presidency, Merkel eliminated her chief rival, paving the way for the Christian Democratic Union [CDU] to take first place in the Bundestag or lower house of parliament. Steimeir had the courage to warn the world Oct. 12 that U.S. saber-rattling in Syria and Ukraine threatened WWIII. Merkel expects to cobble together a governing coalition with her Christian Democratic Union and Steinmeir’s Social Democrats [SPD]. With Steinmeir filling the presidency job, Merkel eliminated her competition in the 2017 election. Putting Steinmeir into Gauk’s job, Merkel has virtually ended any viable competition for Chancellor.
Since the U.K. bailed out the EU, Merkel’s been the EU’s biggest cheerleader, despite worries that other EU countries could follow the U.K.’s lead. Merkel’s been the EU’s main globalist advocate, seeing the U.S. under Obama as just another EU partner. Trump promised a U.S.-first foreign policy, where U.S. objectives take priority over what happens in the EU or, for that matter, the United Nations. “Observing the potential repercussions of Trump’s election victory on Europe, I think that the task is even bigger now that it was before the American election and so I would think that she might feel that the job isn’t quite done,” Merkel told the Associate Press. Trump stated many times during he campaign that Merkel’s made a real mess of Europe because the Syrian refugee crisis. Merkel won’t find a partner in Trump when it comes to relocating Syrian thousands of refugees.
Trying to show unity in the EU, Merkel met with Obama and leaders of Britain, France, Spain and Italy in the German Chancellory. Friday. Promoting Steinmeir to president, Merkel cleared her path to a September 2017 vote in the Bundestag for her fourth term. She knows there’s more economic problems in the EU, especially with Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland, all sweating it out over sluggish economic growth. “It’s up to her whether she wants to stand again . . but if I were her and I were German and I had a vote, I might support her,” said Obama, dismissing rumors that the rise of right wing parties threatens her fourth term. Rejected by Bavaria’s Christian Social Union [CSU] and defeats of the Christian Democratic Union [CDU] over the last 18 months left uncertain whether Merkel would seek a fourth term. Steimeir’s rise to the presidency ended any real opposition.
Merkel cast little doubt on her intent to run for a fourth term next September. When Steinmeir becomes president in February 2017, Merkel will have eliminated her chief rival for a fourth term. Her bigger problem involves pushing fellow EU member to take more Syrian refugees, something rejected by a number of EU countries. Merkel lobbied hard for Britain to stay in the EU. Angela knows the overriding issues driving the U.K. out the EU was pressure to take more Syrian and North African refugees. Merkel faces less opposition to cobbling together a governing coalition of the conservative Christian Democratic Union [CDU], Social Democrats [SPD] and Green Party, still comprising at least 68% of the Bundestag, more than enough to guarantee her a fourth term. If Trump can help resolve the Syria War, Merkel will find herself sailing into her fourth term.
