Merkel defends her policies at the launch of her book

 

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her policies on refugees, Russia and the economy at the presentation of her memoirs in Berlin. Critics say the more than 700 pages offer little new information.

Angela Merkel, the longest-serving chancellor of a reunified postwar Germany, was back in the spotlight on Tuesday evening. Berlin's Deutsches Theater was the first stop on Merkel's intercontinental tour to promote her autobiography "Freedom."

On stage, Merkel had the chance to defend her most controversial decisions. When pressed by journalist Anne Will to respond to criticism that she had gone soft on Russia in exchange for cheap natural gas, done too little to combat climate change or fund the military, she responded by saying that many of those things were not solely under her control.

He also rejected accusations that he had “save Germany for its life” with his Christian Democratic Party (CDU) focused on saving money rather than spending it on, for example, renovating outdated infrastructure such as the beleaguered national rail service Deutsche Bahn.

Will also grilled Merkel on her 2015 decision to bypass certain European Union statutes requiring asylum applications to be processed in the first EU country people arrive in. But Merkel said the alternative would have been to turn people away, perhaps violently, at the German border, which she said would have been far worse.

Merkel avoids difficult questions

As in her book, the former chancellor largely sidestepped the issue of being too conciliatory toward Russia, especially after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 in order to procure cheap fuel for Germany.

In her book, however, she argues that by accepting Ukraine's bid for NATO membership, the West was sending a strong signal to the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin figures perhaps more prominently than any other leader in the book. She remembers him as someone who was always ready to disrespect others, especially by arriving late.

Barack Obama also receives almost as much attention in her memoirs as the Russian president. She describes the former US president glowingly, saying she knew immediately that he was someone she could work well with.

He also appears to accept without question his claim that he had no personal knowledge that the National Security Agency was spying on his personal cellphone when the information came to light in 2015.

In one of the book's rare revelations, he says that Obama was one of the confidants he sought advice from when deciding whether to run for a fourth term in 2017.

Trump acted as if Germany owed him something

As for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, she found him one person in front of the cameras and another entirely when they were alone. In public, he refused to shake her hand and claimed she had ruined Germany by taking in so many refugees in 2015 and 2016, accused the country of spending too little on defense and criticized it for unfair trade practices.

Merkel says he acted as if Germany owed him and the United States something, but was not interested in finding common ground or working on solutions.

Behind closed doors, however, he had greeted her appropriately and seemed to want to be liked by whomever he spoke.

Few unknown details

Analysts have noted that despite its 740 pages, the book offers little self-reflection or information that is not already well known.

The book also fails to delve deeply into many topics, such as religion. Despite being the daughter of a pastor, Merkel does not speak much about the Christian faith. There are a few scattered mentions of Islam, almost exclusively in relation to extremism and terrorism. Nor does she extensively mention non-Western world leaders, such as Narendra Modi or Xi Jinping and his predecessor, Hu Jintao.

At the book launch, she did not take questions from the audience. However, towards the end she admitted that she did not leave the country in perfect shape in terms of climate protection and digitalisation.

The former chancellor will soon travel to other major European cities to promote her work and then to Washington, where Obama is expected to be present to support her.