Germany-U.S. Exhibit Chummy Ties at G-8 Summit
June 9, 2004
If George W. Bush and Gerhard Schröder had known that the key to resuming friendly ties between the United States and Germany would have been as simple as sharing a joke over a dog, the transatlantic chill may have have subsided a lot sooner. But credit where credit is due: Barney the Terrier's ice breaking skills on the fringes of the G-8 summit on Sea Island off the coast of Georgia came better late than never.
Meeting for their third bilateral talks since the end of the Iraq war, Bush and Schröder seemed at ease in front of the camera as the First Dog of the United States bridged the gap between the two leaders and offered light relief from the tensions of the past.
Barney cannot take all the credit, however. Germany and the United States have been edging towards normal relations for some months now and, according to U.S. officials, this latest meeting was the "friendliest conversation since before the Iraq war." It could not have harmed matters that President Bush was basking in the afterglow of a unanimous agreement on a new Iraq resolution in the United Nations.
And Schröder was not going to be upstaged by Barney behind the scenes. The German chancellor has been working solidly to meet the president in the middle ground on issues where the two leaders have spent much of the past 18 months at opposite poles.
No soldiers but reconstruction from Germany
While accepting that Washington's current policy is to win the peace militarily, Schröder reiterated the German position that a common solution must be found which suits all those involved. And while Bush has conceded that Germany will send no soldiers to Iraq, Schröder has honored his understanding by pledging German support to the reconstruction process. "We are ready to take part in the reconstruction ... and we are already making progress in this," the chancellor told the gathered reporters.
President Bush opened the meeting by thanking Schröder for Germany's efforts in promoting peace, his work "for freedom all around the world" and emphasized above all the German military contribution in Afghanistan and in the Balkans. "I am glad to continue our dialogue in the spirit of collaboration and friendship," said Bush. The president then singled out special thanks to German Foreign Secretary Joschka Fischer for his contribution in the Middle East, according to Schröder.
Iraq resolution welcomed by both leaders
Bush also praised the collaboration on the new Iraq resolution which was passed by the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. Schröder called the resolution an important contribution to stability in Iraq and in the whole Middle East and said that a new chance presents itself to the Iraqi people.
"Democracy cannot be imposed on the states of the Middle East," Schröder said. However, both the U.S. and Germany agreed on the fact that the countries of the region should not be treated like children "and force on them our own values," said the chancellor. Changes in these societies would have to come from within, and with the support of the G-8 countries.
Schröder calls for more transparency
The chancellor also referred to the connection between economic development and political stability. The increasing oil prices were a result of speculation as well as from "perceived and real instability," he observed. The current oil situation has not yet become a menace to the economic situation in Germany but will be an important topic at the summit, with Schröder calling for more transparency in the oil market.
The official U.S. statement after the half hour-long meeting said of German-U.S. relations that "there have unquestionably been differences, however, strong progress is being made in almost all questions regarding the near and the Middle East." The statement continued that the U.S. and Germany have reached an understanding "to work on common subjects again."
According to an unnamed Bush aide, as quoted in the German Spiegel magazine, the president understands the German position "very well." But the quarrel between both governments is now a thing of the past, he added.