When was the last time a German chancellor attended the annual meeting of all 230 German ambassadors from around the world in Berlin? Martin Giese, spokesperson for Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), was well prepared for the question.
“That goes back a long way. I consulted with my colleagues and we had to look very far back in time. The only time a federal chancellor opened this conference was in 2000, when Gerhard Schröder was chancellor,” Giese said.
It’s fair to say that the world has changed dramatically in the quarter century since Schröder appeared at the gathering.
In fact, on Monday, at the start of the multiday conference at the Foreign Office in Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz,, also of the CDU, gave what amounted to a keynote speech on the future significance of German foreign policy.
He also met with the assembled ambassadors for a background discussion, which is rather unusual.
Merz and European partners visited US President Donald Trump in Washington in AugustImage: picture alliance/Newscom/DANIEL TOROK
New and uncertain geopolitical landscape
In his speech, Merz painted a picture of a world order in which firmly held convictions are being challenged almost daily.
“What we have called the liberal world order is now under pressure from many sides, including from within the political West. A new systemic conflict has already broken out between liberal democracies and an axis of autocracies that is actively seeking open systemic competition with our democracy,” he said.
The axis of autocracies, according to Merz’s interpretation, consists primarily of China and Russia.
For too long, the chancellor said, Germany has felt comfortable in a deceptive sense of security that assumed the fallout from global upheavals would not be felt here.
This has led to an attitude “that we don’t need to worry about the wars out there, the aggressors, those who break the rules,” Merz said. “It serves an almost isolationist need in our population. But Germany is not an island, even if we and our country are surrounded by friends, as we so nicely put it.”
For Merz, this means that foreign policy is no longer, as it has been for many years in Germany, the hobbyhorse of a few specialist politicians. Rather, it is the basis for all policy areas, especially economic policy.
And, above all, it is interest-based politics: Germany takes positions on the international stage that primarily benefit markets for the export-oriented German economy.
Merz said Germany must be more present and play a bigger role. “It is a responsibility that we, as the strongest economy on this continent, not only have or even assume, not out of hubris or arrogance,” he said, “but a responsibility that comes with our country’s geostrategic position and that we must fulfill, in our own interest, but also in the interest of our European neighbors and the entire European Union.”
Wadephul: Germany now in position to lead in Europe
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SPD supports the chancellor’s change of course
Since taking office, quite a few observers have dubbed Merz the “Aussenkanzler (foreign chancellor) as he been seen on virtually every international stage, visiting US President Donald Trump in Washington, attending numerous meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and attending the NATO summit.
The same observers accused him of neglecting domestic policy. However, Merz’s focus on foreign affairs has been well received by his coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
“There are more than enough conflicts in this world, so it’s good for parliament to have a direct line to the chancellor so that the government and parliament can work together to outline their positions. And I have to say that this is currently working very well in the government,” Adis Ahmetovic, foreign policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, told DW.
What does the new approach mean for the country’s approximately 230 ambassadors? How will Germany be perceived now that it is becoming more involved and “no longer an island,” as Merz says?
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“It may be that Germany often perceives itself as crisis-ridden,” Wolfgang Ischinger, the former ambassador to the US and the UK and later the longtime head of the Munich Security Conference, told DW. “However, this image does not necessarily correspond to the perception of Germany in the world. From the outside world’s perspective, we are an extremely stable and prosperous country. What is increasingly striking abroad, however, is the lack of courage and willingness to innovate in Germany. This is damaging our reputation, and we have only ourselves to blame.”
Even if the focus of foreign policy is now less on defending human rights, as was the case under the previous foreign minister, the Green Annalena Baerbock, and more on the rather sober focus on economic interests, this is not really anything new for German diplomats around the world.
“The work of German missions abroad is not changing much. Diplomacy was, is, and remains value-based promotion of our national interests. Even if the context changes, the core of diplomatic work remains the same,” Ischinger said. The new chancellor just may call a little more often than the old one.
This article was originally written in German.
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