Robert Habeck’s visit to Greece is actually about trade and energy, but then it turns to migration. The minister can’t resist a dig.
Outside, a hot Greek summer day is drawing to a close, and inside the overcrowded hall it smells of male sweat and bad breath. The German Minister of Economic Affairs is on stage. “It’s a bit like being the opening act for the main act,” says Robert Habeck, and you briefly doubt whether this is really just meant to be funny or whether there is more to it than that.
Opening act for the Vice Chancellor? Habeck has to finish his speech at 8 p.m. sharp on Saturday. Then the Greek Prime Minister will address the state of the nation. As the representative of this year’s guest country, Habeck has six minutes to get his message across: increasing protectionism is damaging everyone, and cooperation is needed. But first he says: perhaps people should remember that AC/DC was once the opening act for Led Zeppelin.
Habeck like AC/DC, that sounds better. That sounds like something big is coming, and that fits the picture. He wants to be the Green Party’s candidate for chancellor in the upcoming federal election, even if no one is saying that openly yet. Now are the decisive weeks, a party conference in November could make him number 1.
Robert Habeck and world politics: “It would be idiotic to muzzle ourselves”
On Saturday he will open the “Thessaloniki International Fair”, an annual trade fair, in the northern Greek port city. And he will take part in a conference on energy cooperation between the EU and the MENA region. The focus will be on world politics, the USA and China, and how Europe is asserting itself. The big issues. So is this the beginning of the federal election campaign?
The minister doesn’t want to hear anything about that. “The discussions here revolve around my area of expertise,” says Habeck in front of the “Leipzig” room in the German hall. Next door there are cheese spaetzle and Königsberger Klopse. “But of course we also talk about what’s going on in world politics. It would be idiotic to muzzle ourselves on that.”
He himself is doing everything he can to link world politics with German domestic politics. In addition to the situation in Ukraine and relations with Russia, he has “already spoken a lot about the migration issue” with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Since three people were killed by a suspected Islamist in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, the debate about migration has reached a new level of intensity. Together with Nancy Faeser, the Federal Minister of the Interior from the SPD, and Marco Buschmann, the Federal Minister of Justice from the FDP, Habeck has agreed on a security package with stricter measures. The Union is driving the government forward – and has made rejections at the border a condition for further talks, which are due to take place again on Tuesday between representatives of the government, the opposition and the states.
Greetings to the opposition leader
It is indeed the case that “many refugees travel on to Germany” from Greece, says Habeck. “And the Greeks don’t think that’s a bad thing.” He asked the Greek Prime Minister what they would say “if we brought them all back.” It seems to him that this has never been discussed between “the Prime Minister and the opposition leader in Germany, who are part of the same party family,” Habeck says, referring to Merz.
Greetings from Greece to the opposition leader.
The opposition is not thinking its demands through to the end, this accusation is implied. Habeck wants to come across as European. He is pushing for the new European asylum reform to be implemented quickly. The Greens are annoyed by the Union’s behavior in the migration debate and accuse it of dividing. Annalena Baerbock, the Foreign Minister, pleaded for “a cool head” at the parliamentary group executive committee meeting last week, even when one’s heart is burning.
Not only the opposition is putting pressure on the Greens
But the Greens are not making a good impression in the current debate. It is the latest example of how the party keeps falling behind when it comes to the issue of migration: in the past, parts of the party often resisted tightening measures, but then went along with them at great expense. A clear line is usually not apparent – even if the latest debate shows attempts to position themselves more clearly.
The Interior Ministry is examining whether rejections could be legally possible. What will the Greens do if the report confirms this? It is not just the opposition that is putting the Greens under pressure on this issue. The FDP and parts of the SPD are also in favor of tightening the rules. Another issue full of disagreements in this difficult coalition of different partners. The Greens could be facing difficult weeks; their DNA is at stake.
The Greek Prime Minister is currently governing with an absolute majority, the German ambassador to Greece points out while walking along the coastal promenade. That is different from Germany.
Habeck, who had previously looked him attentively in the eyes, prefers to look at the ground and not bat an eyelid. Perhaps he had hoped that a two-and-a-half hour flight from Berlin would be far enough away to bring back memories of traffic light disputes. Wrong thought, even if you could block it out for a moment in the sea air.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
