How correspondents view Germany

The view of foreign newspaper correspondents in Germany on the political situation in Berlin was the topic of a panel discussion at the Aspen Institute Germany’s summer reception.

The first question, namely how Friedrich Merz’s election was received in the states, was to be answered with just one word. Thomas Escritt, Berlin correspondent for Thomson Reuters, said “Quiet.” Tonia Mastrobuourni of Italy’s La Repubblica used two words, “horror and relief,” and later explained, when she was allowed to speak at length, that she meant ‘relief’ because the AfD had not become as strong as expected and “horror” because the traditional parties‘ share of the vote was shrinking. The poor performance of the SPD came as a shock to the opposition in Italy, which feels close to the Social Democrats.

Pascal Thibaut of Radio France Internationale spoke of relief in Paris. After the cooperation with Olaf Scholz failed, hopes are now pinned on Friedrich Merz. So far, these hopes have not been disappointed, and the Élysée Palace is dreaming of a constellation similar to that of the early 1990s. Anna-Lena Laurén of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter described it in similar terms. While it was never really clear what Germany would do under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Friedrich Merz is at least much clearer in his words. Like Germany with the AfD, their country has a nationalist party, the Sweden Democrats, which is gaining more and more votes in elections; most recently, the Sweden Democrats won over 20 percent of the vote, giving them 73 of 349 seats in the Riksdag.

Thomas Escritt believes that many see Friedrich Merz as a European leader, similar to Angela Merkel, but with the added bonus of being an old-school conservative. So far, he has heard many words from Friedrich Merz, but is still waiting for action.

Juliane Schäuble, who recently moved from the Tagesspiegel to the Washington correspondent position – meaning she is not a classic foreign correspondent in Berlin – reported that she was unable to contribute to the election results in Germany herself because she was unable to cast her vote due to the short deadlines.