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German Chancellor addresses Congress on climate change, Iran, Afghanistan
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AP Photo/J. David Ake
When Angela Merkel and her CDU/CSU bloc won an overwhelming victory in Germany's September parliamentary elections, it marked a conservative shift in German politics. Germany's Social Democrats (SPD, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschland) suddenly found themselves booted from the ruling coalition in favor of the pro-market, anti-immigration Free Democrats (FDP, Freie Demokratische Partei). Yesterday, Merkel continued the trend by delivering a fairly conservative address (at least by European standards) before a joint session of the US Congress, tackling tough topics such as climate change, Iran, and Afghanistan.
She encouraged Congress to make firm commitments to battling climate change at December's upcoming Copenhagen summit, insisting that there is "no time to lose." Merkel also commented that US support would encourage countries like China and India to take similar steps. Germany is presently the largest renewable energy economy in the world, with 15% of its electricity coming from renewable sources such as solar and wind power in 2008 (27% projected by 2020). In spite of bold rhetoric, the US has yet to make either a major legislative or diplomatic commitment to combating climate change. Merkel took a far more conservative stance on Iran and Afganistan, judging from BBC News, which reported that she called for a "zero-tolerance policy" on the Iranian nuclear program, citing the threat to Israel from "an Iranian president who denies the Holocaust [...] and denies Israel the right to exist." For obvious reasons, Holocaust denial is a considered a felony offense in Germany.
On Afghanistan, Merkel promised that Germany and the US would "travel [the] road together, every step of the way," but did not mention specifics.
While the US government has encouraged Germany to contribute additional Bundeswehr troops to the NATO force in Afghanistan, the issue remains controversial in Germany, where Merkel's government faces widespread opposition to its involvement in Afghanistan. German commitments in Afghanistan were a major issue in the September elections, to the point where Al-Qaeda released videotape threats of terror attacks if Germans re-elected the CSU/CDU parliamentary bloc.
Introducing Bundeskanzlerin Merkel before Congress, President Barack Obama called her an "extroardinary leader" and her country "an extraordinarily strong ally on a host of international issues."
Angela Merkel is only the second German Chancellor in history to speak before Congress, after Konrad Adenauer in 1957.
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