Merkel Facing a Frozen Conflict and Chilly Diplomacy

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In The Media

Carnegie Europe

Merkel Facing a Frozen Conflict and Chilly Diplomacy

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has her hands full this week, with issues concerning Moldova, France, and Greece.

By Judy Dempsey

Published on Aug 20, 2012

Source: New York Times

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has her hands full this week: Moldova, France and Greece. But what can she promise any of them?

Little, if anything.

Take Moldova. Ms. Merkel on Wednesday is off to this poor, corrupt and divided country on the fringe of the European Union and the Caucasus. It borders the E.U. member-state Romania.

Ms. Merkel wants to end this longtime “frozen conflict,” but without the cooperation of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president with whom Ms. Merkel does not have good relations, it is difficult to see what she can achieve — unless the lure of German investment and the European Union can shift the balance of power in Moldova.

Back in Berlin, on Thursday, Ms. Merkel will have to deal with requests by President François Hollande of France to soften the conditions for Greece.

Ms. Merkel is in no position to say yes or no. Her Christian Democrats, and the public, are in no mood to give Greece more time or more money. And in any case, Ms. Merkel cannot do anything right now, as she will explain to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of Greece, whom she will host in Berlin on Aug. 24.

As I write in my latest column, Ms. Merkel can say with full conviction that she has to wait until Sept. 12, when the country’s Constitutional Court will give its ruling on whether Germany can both ratify the fiscal pact that she negotiated with her E.U. partners and contribute to the bailout mechanism of the European Stability Mechanism.

If the court says no, then the only way Germany can forge ahead on Europe is a referendum on a new constitution. If the judges give a qualified yes, Ms. Merkel will still have a difficult job convincing her skeptical party — and the German public — that Germany must pay more.

This article originally appeared in the New York Times.

About the Author

Judy Dempsey

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe

Judy Dempsey is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe

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Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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