Angela Merkel’s legacy comes under fire as she publishes memoirs

Sarah Marsh and Thomas Escritt

BERLIN (Reuters) – Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel describes her relationships with world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump during her 16 years in power in her new memoir, which comes as her legacy comes under fire criticism in light of today’s crises.

In excerpts released ahead of the book’s November 26 publication, Merkel defends her decision to refuse Ukraine’s offer of future NATO membership at the defense alliance’s 2008 summit in Bucharest, which her critics say could have dissuaded Russia from invading Ukraine.

Even the summit’s announcement that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join NATO was a “battle cry” for Putin, wrote Merkel, who held the post for four terms.

“Later he told me: ‘You won’t be chancellor forever. And then they will become members of NATO. And I want to prevent this,” she wrote in excerpts published late Wednesday by German weekly Die Zeit.

Merkel’s memoir, Freedom: A Memoir 1954-2021, will be published in more than 30 countries on November 26. She will launch the book in the US a week later at an event in Washington alongside former President Barack Obama, with whom she developed a close political relationship.

Obama’s successor Trump, who earlier this month won another term in office, is one of the men targeted in the book by Germany’s first female leader.

Merkel sought the Pope’s advice on how to deal with Trump when he was first elected US president, hoping to find ways to convince the man she believed had a winner-lose mentality as a real estate developer not to withdraw from the Paris climate accords, she writes. .

“He saw everything from the point of view of the real estate developer he was before he entered politics,” she wrote. “Each piece of land could only be sold once, and if he didn’t get it, someone else would. That’s how he saw the world.”

Pope Francis, when Merkel asked him in general terms for advice on how to deal with people of “fundamentally different views,” immediately understood that she was referring to Trump and his desire to withdraw from climate agreements, she wrote.

“Bend, bend, bend, but make sure it doesn’t break,” he told Merkel, according to her.

During Trump’s presidency, Merkel’s frequent calls for values ​​such as freedom and human rights have led some to call her the true “leader of the free world,” a moniker traditionally reserved for US presidents.

“She was a person of integrity and no vanity, which is unusual for a politician,” said Torsten Oppelland, a professor of political science at the University of Jena.

Written before Trump’s re-election, the book expresses his “sincere hope” that Vice President Kamala Harris will defeat her opponent.

HERITAGE UNDER FIRE

For four consecutive terms, Merkel led Germany and Europe through the global financial crisis, the eurozone debt crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

But it has since faced criticism for allowing Germany to become even more dependent on cheap Russian gas and Chinese trade, even after Russia’s forced annexation of Crimea and industry warnings of over-reliance on China.

Critics also blame the rise of the far right and high energy prices partly on her decisions to open Germany’s borders to refugees and phase out nuclear power.

They said it lacked vision and failed to implement the reforms needed to ensure the future strength of Europe’s largest economy, which is now struggling with a crisis in its economic model.

“During her time in office, Merkel was widely regarded as a highly effective politician and a reliable person,” said Marcel Dirsus of the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University.

“After leaving power, many Germans are much more critical of her legacy. Either because her policies are considered a failure, or because her inaction is believed to have helped solve many of Germany’s existing problems.”

Still, he said, many of Merkel’s positions, such as her stance on Russia, are Germany’s consensus positions across the political spectrum: current Chancellor Olaf Scholz was her finance minister for her last four years in power.

In recent years, however, her own Conservative party has distanced itself from its former leader, who himself has expressed little remorse for his actions and has largely maintained a low profile since leaving office.