Merkel bashing

Hopefully, German Chancellor Angela Merkel got a good rest during her vacation. Since she's been back, she’s been confronted with headlines that not all too encouraging. "Helmut Kohl: dramatic appeal to Merkel! We have to watch out we don’t gamble everything away!" That's what the tabloid daily Bild was leading with on the front page. The broadsheet Süddeutsche Zeitung daily went with: "Kohl: Merkel's foreign policy lacks compass."

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl did indeed give an interview to a magazine. He was asked about Germany's decision not to partake in the Iraq war in 2003 and about Germany abstaining from the UN vote on the Libya resolution earlier in 2011. "Has Germany lost its compass?" was the question. And the experienced and successful politician answered: "I guess that's what you'd have to call it." And he urged on Berlin to return to its reliability of old.

No matter which way - it's always wrong

Kohl's criticism is without doubt partially directed at Chancellor Angela Merkel - although he does not mention her by name. But he mostly focuses his comments on the former center-left coalition under then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. And he accuses Schröder's government of being to blame for the current euro crisis. The past government, Kohl says, accepted Greece into the eurozone without forcing it to adhere to the strict stability criteria originally set up for the single currency. Kohl does not, however, offer any suggestions as to what now-Chancellor Merkel should be doing differently.

And that's the problem Merkel is facing: There's plenty of criticism of how she's handling the euro crisis but the alternatives that are being suggested contradict each other. And the government in Berlin can not follow any past examples because the European single currency is an unprecedented project. So no matter what Merkel decides - a large part of the public is bound to disagree with her.

The next elections are still far off

The other instance that was perceived as criticism of Merkel was a speech by German President Christian Wulff. But the president's criticism was in fact foremost directed at the European central bank and only then at European government across the board. Wulff did not particularly single out Berlin. On the contrary: Wulff's criticism very much echoed Merkel's line against the introduction of euro bonds. So in that respect, the president's speech could in fact be seen as supporting Merkel.

But that's just not how the media wants to see it. Merkel-bashing is en vogue and almost the entire media landscape goes along. But at least there's one thing the chancellor can relax about: The next election is still far off and the mood of the public and the media is known to change course quickly.

Author: Peter Stützle / ai
Editor: Rob Turner