2024-01-03 23:22:47
She was more than just a conservative leader. She marked an era in Germany and Europe. She was an icon and even the political argument for many in Germany to vote for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). However, her influence on German politics has dissipated so much that by now virtually nothing of her legacy remains.
Merkel said that her retirement from politics would allow her to “travel and read,” but many understood that she would continue to play an influential role in the conservatives after her retirement. However, the CDU, led by Friedrich Merz after the Christian Democratic electoral defeat in the 2021 general elections, has not stopped distancing itself from what was its chancellor and main supporter in power for 16 years.
Merkel’s departure from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS, for its German acronym) and the approval of the new basic program of the CDU, a text that in many ways means making taste buds with what could be understood to be the ‘Merkelian legacy’, is an example of that distancing.
The KAS is part of the system of foundations linked to the country’s major parties. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, also has its own, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The Greens party (Heinrich Böll Foundation), the liberals of the FDP (Friedrich Naumann Foundation) and the leftist formation of Die Linke (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation) also have their own foundations.
They all function, to a large extent, as think tanks. That is, as organizations that contribute to nurturing and articulating conservative, social democratic, environmentalist, liberal or leftist thought in Germany, as the case may be.
Merkel was a valuable member of the KAS. Its president, Norbert Lammert, tried to prevent the departure of the former chancellor in a recent face-to-face meeting, according to the newspaper. Bild, but Lammert could not convince her. “I am simply out of that role,” said the leader regarding her decision, according to what she has learned in the German press.
Thus, Angela Merkel, at 69 years old, is already outside what is the only institution that could dedicate itself to taking care of her political legacy and ensuring that she continues to inspire the CDU in some way. It is true, however, that the current CDU, with Merz at the helm, seems to want to have very little or nothing to do with the former chancellor. Not in vain, during his rise to the presidency of the CDU, Merz was called the ‘anti-Merkel’.
The paths of CDU and Merkel fork
CDU politicians cited by the weekly The mirror They point out that Merkel’s dismissal from the foundation is a clear “break” with the party. “The surprising thing is that there is no debate around the question: What went wrong with Merkel?” she tells elDiario.es Andrea Römmele, professor at the prestigious Herthie School of Governance of Berlin.
“The SPD was seen saying last weekend, at its last congress, that Merkel’s policy towards Russia was a mistake. We will have to see what she says in her memoirs when they are published,” she adds.
With her in the Federal Chancellery, imports of Russian natural gas came to represent 55% of the total acquired in 2021, which many criticized as putting German energy policy in the hands of Russia.
Merkel recognized the growing tyrannical tendencies of Vladimir Putin’s regime, but never confronted it harshly enough, it is assumed in Germany. Furthermore, many maintain that Merkel also contributed to the progressive German disarmament that has led the country to be “naked” in the face of military aggression. A term that comes from the head of the German Army himself.
Merkel was able to lead her country with relative success in times of great challenges such as the financial crisis of 2008, the euro crisis of 2010, the refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016 and the pandemic. However, the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has meant that Merkel has fallen into a kind of collective oblivion that, in the case of the CDU, is evident.
“His path and that of the CDU are forking, the departure of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation is part of this. She is very isolated,” Römmele tells this newspaper in the context of an event organized by the Berlin Foreign Press Association (VAP, by its German acronym).
The new political program of the CDU
On the international scene, it is true that Merkel has been seen receiving recognition, such as the honorary doctorate from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po), last June. In 2022, Merkel rejected a job offer to be an advisor to UN Secretary General António Guterres. Meanwhile, she usually makes the news in Germany when she goes on vacation, preferably to destinations of cultural interest or favorable weather.
Also last summer Merkel received the Bavarian Order of Merit, a medal awarded by the rico land from southern Germany where the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU), a formation twinned with the CDU, has governed for decades. Both are part of the Bundestag from the same parliamentary group, known here as “La Unión”. Awards aside, the conservative German family no longer wants to have much more to do with Merkel.
Politically, the new basic program of the CDU, of which a first draft has recently been presented, is an example of this. “Live Free. Leading Germany towards a secure future,” the document is titled. In it, among other things, there is a renewed commitment to atomic energy, a technology to whose end Merkel contributed in Germany. She accelerated the “nuclear blackout” designed by social democrats and environmentalists under her predecessor, Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
The CDU’s new program, which is scheduled to be validated this month and presented at a congress in May 2024, also proposes radical changes to the asylum system. German conservatives want to fight so that “third countries” receive and take care of asylum seekers who want to request refuge in Germany while their application is being processed.
Another of the most commented aspects of said program is a controversial statement included in the document: “Muslims who share our values belong to Germany.” It is estimated that six million Muslims live in Germany. By virtue of that, Merkel said that “Islam belongs to Germany.” But that phrase no longer guides Merz’s CDU.
“The ideas of the CDU’s new program identify very well with its candidate for chancellor, who would be Friedrich Merz, someone who long ago broke with Merkel,” concludes Römmele.
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