The Foreign Minister and the Interior Minister announce that they will not attend the Olympic event while Chancellor Scholz avoids an official pronouncement
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly sidestepped the question of whether Germany will join the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games in China announced by the United States. He hid himself the first time he was required to respond, two days before being invested in the position, with which he did not correspond to do so due to his governmental responsibilities. On December 10, on his first visit as foreign minister to Paris, he evasively responded to the same question while President Emmanuel Macron questioned the effectiveness of a boycott.
Two Scholz ministers, the Foreign Minister and the Interior Minister, have spoken. «I am a great sports fan. But I will definitely not go to these Games, “said Annalena Baerbock, head of German diplomacy and leader of The Greens, former professional gymnast and with three national bronzes on trampoline.
Nor will the Interior Minister, the Social Democrat Nancy Faeser, attend the Games, whose competitions include Sports. The situation of the pandemic prevents this displacement, explained a spokesman for his ministry.
Baerbock’s decision is in his personal capacity and does not create a major protocol problem, since it is not an intrinsic task of his charge to represent Germany in this type of event. Faeser would have to go to China because of his position and representing his fellow member Scholz. Or, if necessary, delegate to a secretary of state.
Since the United States announced its boycott, based on the human rights situation in China, a pronouncement from the German government is expected in line with that of its great transatlantic ally. Baerbock, the first woman to lead Foreign Affairs in Germany, has already shown some impatience to give her own accent to her position. Especially in regards to China and Russia. Upon assuming his post, he advanced his purpose of drawing clearer lines on human rights than the previous executives of Angela Merkel, as much a defender of “bridges of dialogue” as of economic interests.
The axis with the United States
Already there Baerbock was reminded, from Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), that it is not up to her to mark the outlines of German foreign policy. That falls directly to the chancellor, not to his head of diplomacy.
The German position will not be clear as long as Scholz avoids the question. The good health of the transatlantic axis is one of the traditional priorities of German foreign policy. Not only now, with Joe Biden in the presidency, but also in complex times, such as when it was Donald Trump who occupied the White House and it was up to Merkel to iron out rough edges, both formal and content or economic interests.
But even stronger is the Franco-German axis. Berlin can mock up a diplomatic boycott with other European partners. However, Scholz will have a hard time joining in as long as Macron questions the “efficiency” of a boycott.
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