Personal Ties Trump Policy During Bush's Visit to Germany

A wild boar roast in Merkel's adopted home constituency allowed the two world leaders to sidestep the hours of policy talks that typically accompany meetings in capitals. Instead Bush and Merkel had a generally relaxing visit in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with a couple of hours to hash out political issues.

For her part, Merkel said she thought the informal visit had been a complete success that created "exactly the sort of atmosphere" she wanted for the meeting.

"The president asked an astonishing number of questions," Merkel said. "Everyone was able to see his interest in the region and its problems."

A wider view of Germany for Bush

The US president's decision to stay in the German Baltic Sea town of Stralsund for three days shows how deep the relationship between the two countries has become, according to Gary Smith, director of the American Academy in Berlin.

"It shows the genuine friendship between him and the German chancellor," he said. "Bush is taking an interest in developments in eastern Germany. What he'll have seen are some success stories, but also the negative impact of reunification in many eastern parts (of Germany)."

Though only 1,000 of the 5,000 protesters organizers expected actually showed up, some ordinary people in Stralsund argued that the 20 million euros ($25.5 million) spent on security for the visit would have been better spent on creating new jobs in the region and improving its infrastructure. A survey showed nearly half of the people in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were against Bush's visit.

Personal ties good for Bush and Merkel

But others believe that the visit was important to solidify US-German relations which suffered a setback under former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, due to his government's outright rejection of the US-led war on Iraq.

Merkel's stance on Iraq isn't all that different, but she's managed to build up a relationship of trust with the US administration -- that Schröder could only dream of -- at a time when it seems Washington is reaching out to other European allies after leaders close to Bush have been voted out of office in Spain and Italy.

Bush praised Merkel and said she is a person with "a bold vision and a humble heart" who he is "proud to call a good friend."

Respect for Merkel's opinions

"The American people and the German people see the same qualities and character in your nation's leader," Bush added. "I respect her judgment and I value her opinion."

Merkel also pointed out that politics were not completely absent from the visit.

"We found we had a lot of common ground on a number of points," she said. "We talked about Iran, the Middle East, the issue of North Korea and relations with China to find our common interests."