Berlin “mourning” the withdrawal of Obama from the White House

The impending withdrawal…
Barack Obama plunges Berlin into nostalgia and concern as the future president Donald Trump threatens to upset the strategic pillars of post-war Europe, which the German capital is a great symbol.
Since 2008, Obama, then a candidate for the White House, declare to the world the importance it attaches to the Berlin organising there the biggest rally of the election campaign. Where he reminded the audience of the famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I Am a Berliner), by John F. kennedy. Kennedy who, in 1963, symbolized the unity of the West against the soviet enemy.
If the chancellor Angela Merkel refused then to open the young senator on the door of Brandenburg, the embodiment of ξανακερδισμένης German unity, the Democratic candidate managed to gather 200,000 people not far from there, in the Win column.
From the moment he was elected, as reported by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, the two leaders have created relationships of trust, despite the tensions caused by the interception of mobile phone of Merkel, or the u.s. criticism for its attitude, which was considered as very strict, in the course of the european debt crisis.
This good understanding was demonstrated in mid-November when Barack Ομπάμ, in a farewell visit, multiply the praise for the “outstanding” colleague, like to hand over the torch of defending western values.
For the Βερολινέζους the pro-americanism of which was forged during the Cold War, the departure of his friend Obama is the more bitter, as long as they see to arrive a Donald Trump threatens the German industry, calling for the dissolution of the EU and critical of NATO, foundations of security and prosperity for Germany.
“Merkel and Obama are truly leaders of the 21st century, that not only as the first woman chancellor and he as the first black president of the United States, but also for the modern, intelligent approach, with a long-term vision”, declared in afp the Άντγε War, a 33-year-old German, strain in the field of communication.
“Obama wasn’t perfect, but he will be missed, especially when one sees the madness of Trump,” he adds.
For Clemens Ντέπγκεν, 50 years old, was a clerk in one of the German branches of american automaker Ford, the years of the Obama they were good years and now he’s worried about the “crude and simplistic” rhetoric in favour of protectionism that will take place from Friday, president of the united states.
There is also the fear that Germany, which is no longer the political dwarf of the 1990s, will lose its influence, which in recent years has contributed to the achievement of the agreement on Iran’s nuclear weapons and that the climate in Paris that the future president hopes that it will demolish. And what about the central role of Berlin in the Ukrainian crisis now that Donald Trump preaches friendship with Vladimir Putin?
“After the end of the war and in the course of so many years, Germany (…) was a child, then, after the fall of the berlin Wall, was considered to be a teenage country, but it is Obama who saw to it reaches maturity,” says the Σούντα David-Βιλπ, expert in transatlantic relations at the German Marshall Fund.
“We can see that at the end of two terms of Obama has come to rely on chancellor Merkel (…) and that Germany is on the side of taking on more responsibilities in the world and considers herself a power of good,” he adds.
The tone is expected to change radically after the swearing-in of Donald Trump on Friday. The american billionaire, complained in an interview yesterday, “the disastrous mistake” committed by the Άγγελα Merkel opening the country’s doors to immigrants and accused indirectly Germany for ηγεμονισμό in Europe.
Impressive statements and a desire to eliminate the legacy of the american diplomacy also worried about John Emerson, the outgoing ambassador of the United States. For the american diplomat, the Ντόνλαντ Trump has interest to find “common ground” with Merkel.
The Trump must as a sign of appeasement, for example, “to visit the place of origin of his family,” he says, referring to the village Κάλσταντ (southwestern Germany), where he was born his grandfather from his father’s side.
For a big outdoor speech in the heart of Berlin will have to wait, warns the american diplomat. “First you need to find an audience to applaud”.

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