THE NEXT SUPERPOWER? Press Room

US could win big in German vote: analysts
by Agence France-Presse
published September 15, 2005

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington is hoping that a victory by conservative Angela Merkel in the upcoming German elections would mark a fresh start for strained US-German relations.

Relations between the United States and Germany dipped to new lows under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his centre-left coalition, with differences over Iraq and the partnership linking Germany, France and Russia undermining ties.

"What is happening in Germany is a catalyst for change," said Rockwell Schnabel, former US ambassador to the European Union and author of a new book on the EU and its contentious relations with the United States.

Merkel appears to be "a closer friend of the United States and therefore would lead a policy that would be more pro-American and pro-Atlanticist", he added.

Schroeder, who is making a strong comeback in the polls after being written off in the early summer, is hoping that his popular stand on Iraq will win him favour with voters on Sunday as it did in the 2002 elections.

Opinion polls show that Merkel, candidate for the Christian Democrats, has a good chance at becoming the country's first female chancellor. A large percentage of the electorate however remains undecided.

Merkel, 51, has said that one of her priorities if elected would be mending the poisoned relationship with the United States, while still not sending troops to Iraq. Washington is also interested in her aggressive pro-free market agenda.

Although Bush officials refuse to publicly comment on the outcome of the Sunday vote, privately they say a Merkel victory would be a welcome change.

"If the administration representatives are honest they'll tell you 'Well this is a fresh start and Merkel's victory would be a good thing'," said Jackson Janes, director of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.

"We got a lot of leftovers with the Schroeder team and we'll probably never be able to change that so if we get a new team in Berlin it's an opportunity."