A Foreign Perspective on Chancellor Schröder’s Record

The recent scandal surrounding comments allegedly made by Germany’s justice minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin likening U.S. President George Bush’s methods with those of Hitler is only the latest in a strew of differences that have weighed heavy on German-American relations. Most prominent on the list is Chancellor Schröder’s staunch opposition to an American military intervention in Iraq.

Speaking to the television news broadcaster CNN about the situation in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said he refused to meet with his German colleague Peter Struck from the Social Democrats to discuss differences between the two countries. "I certainly have no plans to meet with this person," he announced.

Rumsfeld’s deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, was even harsher in his critique of Chancellor Schröder’s foreign policy on Iraq. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk Radio on Saturday, Wolfowitz accused Germany of jeopardizing the international coalition against Iraq. "I think the demonstrations of disunity are harmful to achieving a kind of political outcome that I believe everybody would like to achieve," he said and added that he hoped the German government would change its position if re-elected.

Good neighbors

Elsewhere in the world, Germany’s red-green coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens meets with approval.

Germany’s next-door neighbor Poland, in fact, is hoping that Chancellor Schröder gets re-elected. Maria Bartczak, the German correspondent for Polish TV, says Schröder is extremely popular in her home country.

"Chancellor Schröder may be very popular in Germany, but he’s equally popular in Poland. He’s repeatedly assured us that Germany will be our advocate in Poland’s efforts to join the European Union," Bartczak told DW-TV.

As to direct German-Polish relations, Bartczak says Schröder has made significant headway on the difficult subject of compensation for Nazi slave laborers. "The slave labor issue is the last chapter in a difficult history between Germans and Poles," she said. "It’s one of Chancellor Schröder’s great achievements that the German government has started compensating former slave laborers from Poland for what they had been put through."

When asked whether she thinks the Germans will re-elect Schröder, Bartczak said that although the red-green government did not accomplish everything it promised domestically – specifically reducing unemployment – the current coalition will maintain power.

Domestic issues are key

Shin Nimura, the German correspondent for Japan’s leading broadcaster NHK, says domestic issues will decide the election, not foreign policy. Speaking to DW-TV, Nimura said he believes the governing coalition will be judged by the state of the economy and the labor market, two areas that are also of interest to Japanese.

Nimura’s goal is to familiarize Japanese viewers with distant Germany through objective reporting on issues they can relate to. Criticizing the government is not part of his job, he says.

But he still thinks Chancellor Schröder should have done more to keep his promise to reduce the number of jobless from 4 million to 3.5 million. "It’s better to make a clear blueprint, for example, to reduce to 3 million or 3.5 million. It was a good idea, I think. Of course, if he cannot do it, maybe he has to be held responsible."

On the other hand, in terms of the environment, Nimura thinks the red-green government has been successful. In Japan, people are very interested in German energy polices, especially the Greens’ attempts to phase out atomic energy and establish more wind energy plants.

A more prominent role in world politics

Guy Raz, the German correspondent for National Public Radio in the U.S., doesn’t think the red-green government will be remembered for tax reforms or pension reform or even the more controversial immigration reform. He thinks the most significant factor in the last four years is Joschka Fischer, Germany’s foreign minister.

"Joschka Fischer is, in my opinion, the most significant German politician in a decade. He’s someone who’s really managed to put this administration on the map in a global sense," Raz told DW-TV.

The American journalist thinks Germany has gained more power on the international stage under the current government. It is inevitable, he says, that Germany take on more international responsibility, for example by sending German troops on peacekeeping missions in the Balkans and Afghanistan. At the same time, though, Raz is critical of the government’s refusal to allow Germany to participate in an attack on Iraq.

"There’s been a very, very vocal opposition to the possible U.S. campaign, and I think one of the problems with the German position is that the government doesn’t really have feet to stand on. When you think about the percentage they spend on defense expenditures... it makes you think twice about why Germany has taken such a strong position against a possible alliance campaign."

Election too close to call

Both inside and outside of Germany, the election is too close to call. Opinions are split between the two major candidates, Gerhard Schröder and Edmund Stoiber. And when the votes start coming in, foreign journalists will be watching just as closely as the German citizens. For the time being, though, no one is making any predictions.

When asked who she thought would win, Maria Bartczak replied cautiously, "The next chancellor’s wife will be blond." Since Doris Schröder and Karin Stoiber are both blonds, that’s a prediction that can’t go wrong.