Armin Laschet in Berlin, on 16 January.
Photographer: Christian Marquardt / Pool / Bloomberg
Photographer: Christian Marquardt / Pool / Bloomberg
Supporters of the man who may become the next leader of Germany chased him after his unorthodox views on foreign policy raised questions about his credentials to succeed Angela Merkel.
The newly elected leader of Merkel’s Christian Democrats, Armin Laschet, wrongly tweeted in 2016 that the Obama administration supported the militant Islamic State in Syria. Two years before, after Laschet criticizes a wave of “marketable anti-Putin populism” that has spread through Russia in the Crimea.
“I do not agree with the critics who claim that Laschet has an underdeveloped foreign policy profile,” party member David McAllister, head of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told reporters on Tuesday. “Armin Laschet has my full support.”
Merkel’s party chooses leader committed to keeping her legacy
As party leader, Laschet is in a position to run as a candidate for the September election. If he can get the chancellorship, he will regularly deal with the elected US President Joe Biden on a series of security issues from the Middle East to Russia. After Biden’s victory, Laschet congratulated him and praised the result as proof that elections can still be won without a populist campaign.
“Armin Laschet is a convinced European, and he also knows the United States,” McAllister said. “Of course, there may be differences of opinion between Europeans and Americans on certain topics.”
The CDU could afford another mistake. The head of the country with the largest population in the country was elected party leader on Saturday after Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was hand-picked as her successor two years ago, stepping aside after a series of gaffes.
Chancellor candidate
While the party leader is usually the chancellor candidate for the Conservative bloc of Germany, this step is not automatic this time. The Bavarian CSU sister party will have an important say in the decision, and Markus Soeder, the leader of the Christian Social Union, is currently far ahead in the polls.
And in fact, the US has little to fear from Laschet, analysts say. Laschet, Berenberg’s chief economist, described Laschet as ‘no foreign policy expert’ and said he expected him to ‘continue Merkel’s foreign policy’.
“Laschet stands here for continuity with the Merkel government,” McAllister said. “Our American partners can already prepare them.”
Laschet’s office was not immediately available for comment.