The Economist - USA (2021-07-17)

46 TheEconomistJuly17th 2021
Europe

Germany

Auf Wiedersehen, Amerika!

A

ngela Merkeland Joe Biden will dine

together  on  July  15th  in  Washington

during what is almost certain to be her fi­

nal trip to America as Germany’s chancel­

lor.  The  date  is  a  reminder  of  the  unique

closeness of the two allies. It is the 75th an­

niversary of the arrival in Bremerhaven of

the  first  care packages  (Co­operative  for

American Remittances to Europe), parcels

of food and supplies that prevented starva­

tion for many in war­ravaged Germany. 

There  will  be  a  great  show  of  warmth

between the lame­duck chancellor and the

American president. Mr Biden is trying to

mend  relations  with  America’s  closest  al­

lies after Donald Trump treated them with

scorn.  But  the  love­in  will  have  its  limits:

on Russia and China, Germany and Ameri­

ca are not aligned. “Russia is work in pro­

gress between the two allies, but there is a

wide  gap  in  what  is  the  right  strategy  for

China,” says Charles Kupchan of the Coun­

cil on Foreign Relations, a think­tank.

Despite  rumblings  of  discontent  at

home, even within her own party, Mrs Mer­

kel continues to stick to her course in ma­

ny of her dealings with Moscow and most

of  her  relationship  with  Beijing.  This  has

become  an  acute  problem  with  Nord

Stream 2, a €9.5bn ($11.2bn) undersea pipe­

line,  fiercely  opposed  by  America’s  Con­

gress, that will bring natural gas from Rus­

sia’s Yamal peninsula to the German coast,

circumventing Ukrainian and Polish tran­

sit  routes.  The  project  is  expected  to  be

completed in August. 

“Nord  Stream  2  is  a  heavy  millstone

around our necks that is harming our cred­

ibility,”  says  Wolfgang  Ischinger,  a  former

German ambassador to America. The pipe­

line  has  largely  nullified  the  credit  Mrs

Merkel won for press­ganging other Euro­

peans  into  imposing  sanctions  against

Russia  after  its  annexation  of  Crimea  in

2014. In May Mr Biden attempted to defuse
the row by waiving sanctions on the com­
pany  building  the  pipeline  and  on  Mat­
thias Warnig, a former East German intelli­
gence officer who is its chief executive. But
he needs something in return, as Congress
looks  likely  to  demand  fresh  sanctions
next month.
Mrs  Merkel  is  expected  to  achieve  a
compromise  so  that  Mr  Biden  can  placate

congressmen. Germany could promise

that it would turn off the gas coming

throughNordStream2 if evertheRussians

stoppedthetransitofgasthroughUkraine,

whichfearsthelossoftransitfees.Itcould

bolsterUkrainebyhelpingitdevelopnew

sourcesofrevenueandenergyinfrastruc­

ture.Lastly,itcouldhelpto payforthe

American­fostered Three Seas Initiative,

anefforttomoderniseinfrastructure,in­

cludingportsandpipes,between 12 east­

ernmembersoftheEuropeanUnionthatis

neededtoswitchtoliquefiednaturalgas

fromAmericaorothersuppliers.

LikeherpredecessorsMrsMerkelhas

triedtobalanceloyaltytoGermany’sallies

withattemptstoengagewithadversaries

economically.YetwhereasWillyBrandt’s

Ostpolitik(easternpolicy)wasoneofthe

B ERLIN

As Angela Merkel prepares to bow out, Germany’s export-driven foreign policy is

being challenged

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More Handel than Wandel

Sources:Destatis;Bernstein

250

200

150

100

50

0

20152008

Germany ’strade

withChina

Exportsandimports,$bn

50

40

30

20

10

0

2008 2015

VW China passenger

car sales, as % of global

VW car sales