analysis
He travels to Turkey with kebabs, mocks “caliber experts” in the Ukraine debate and writes a much-criticized book: The Federal President stumbles into faux pas – and seems to learn little from his mistakes.
Some appointments come at just the right time: the Federal President was in Saalfeld, Thuringia last Friday and Frank-Walter Steinmeier was allowed to drive a suction excavator. The RSP company is the world market leader in this area. What could possibly go wrong here? Not everything went smoothly in the end. Steinmeier is having fun and the company’s sales representative, Stephan Prufer, praises the Federal President: “He’s curious, he wants to take it into his own hands. If I hadn’t taken the remote control away from him, he would still be standing there now.”
Finally no outrage over party favors à la kebab skewers or his “caliber expert” statement. In Saalfeld, the Federal President also wants to support an initiative that is intended to promote civic engagement through foundations. He talks a lot to civil society. However, the Federal President does not talk to the onlookers waiting outside, probably for security reasons.
And so everything remains quite controlled when visiting Saalfeld. Nothing surprises here. The appointment fizzles out a bit. You come across this phenomenon more often when you talk to people about Steinmeier. Yes, he is level-headed, but if you ask what sticks with Steinmeier’s speeches and his actions, then nothing comes up for a long time.
“His speeches fade away quickly”
“Steinmeier’s communication is not very sustainable, his speeches quickly fade away,” says communications consultant Johannes Hillje. “He often doesn’t initiate long-term social debates. And so he actually leaves the central lever of a federal president unused.“
Perhaps the Federal President himself realized that, especially in these difficult times, in the phase of upheaval, he had to do more and offer people orientation: he recently wrote a book. It’s called “We”. It’s about cohesion and the country’s strengths. It sounds like something big. But the reviews are devastating: “It’s one book that treats them all” (Die Zeit). “In the morning it’s a we and the day is yours” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). And you read again and again: The book is not surprising, not inspiring.
Not much follows from the error analysis
The second term in office is not going well for Steinmeier. The Achilles heel with Russia has been there since the beginning. Just as he is being re-elected, Vladimir Putin is about to attack Ukraine. Inevitably, the photos of Steinmeier from his time as foreign minister resurface, having fun arm in arm with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. At the beginning, Steinmeier admits mistakes. But so far not much has followed from his error analysis.
“Words only work if the sender is credible. And Steinmeier’s credibility is damaged because of his previous Russia policy,” says communications expert Hillje. “Even if he admitted mistakes, you can’t really be sure that he has worked through them.”
“I was surprised by the choice of words”
Those who have always had doubts about Steinmeier’s credibility are gaining momentum these days. At a readers’ conference for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Steinmeier appeared irritated by the weapons system debate and spoke mockingly of “caliber experts.”
First his speeches fizzle out, now he alienates people. It is unusual for politicians to criticize the Federal President. But now there is great outrage among Ukraine supporters. The FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann criticizes that Steinmeier should not engage in party politics but rather concern himself with the bigger picture. The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, expresses his opinion Report from Berlin the ARD diplomatically: “I was surprised by the choice of words.”
When you ask the Federal President in Saalfeld about the criticism, he explains that Germany is already doing a lot for Ukraine. When asked whether he saw a fundamental reason to change something given the wide range of criticism, the Federal President answered briefly: “I have to endure criticism when it comes.” It doesn’t sound like any changes are planned at Bellevue Palace.