Steinmeier’s inaugural speech: Unusually clear announcements

The outcome of this Federal Assembly offered little surprise – the inaugural speech of the old and new Federal President all the more so. Because Steinmeier took an unusually clear position in the Ukraine conflict, for example.

In the past there were truly more exciting Federal Assemblies. In 2004, for example, when Horst Köhler narrowly defeated Gesine Schwan, or in 2010, when three ballots were needed to elect Christian Wulff to office. And so this federal assembly with a certain outcome ripples along for a long time.

In this phase, the question of which selfie the delegates would come home with – for example with one of the Chancellor – caused more excitement. She reappeared on the political stage as a delegate for the first time. Many members of the Federal Assembly used this for a selfie with her.

Selfies with Merkel popular

In terms of photo popularity, Merkel probably only had competition from national soccer player Leon Goretzka, who the SPD had nominated for the meeting. The result of the election was also almost as expected: Steinmeier won the first ballot with a clear majority, but the competition probably got more votes than there were actually delegates from their camp present.

But it only rippled until Frank-Walter Steinmeier took the podium for his inaugural speech. In the past there have always been voices that criticized Steinmeier for not giving a speech that was remembered. If that is the case, then this accusation could now have been settled. The Federal President gave a strong speech about social cohesion in times of Corona, about democracy and its enemies and about the Ukraine conflict.

“Untie the noose around the neck of Ukraine!”

Steinmeier even approached the Russian President directly at the beginning. He could only warn him: “Don’t underestimate the strength of democracy!” He later appealed: “Untie the noose around Ukraine’s neck!” One of the strengths of democracy is that it does not seek confrontation with the outside world. That is the consistent message from Washington, Paris and Berlin these days.

Steinmeier had already made it clear that Germany naturally stands by its allies. Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Slovaks and Romanians could rely on the Federal Republic. Steinmeier stressed that Germany unequivocally acknowledged its commitments to the alliance. Without NATO and the European Union, a Germany in unity and freedom would not be possible, he added. The clear aggressor is Russia. The deployment of troops on the Ukrainian borders should not be misunderstood.

Pretty sure that much clarity was agreed with the Federal Chancellor. He had made similar statements in the past few days. However, his formulations were always more diplomatic. An interplay can thus be predicted for the coming weeks. Steinmeier with clear messages, Scholz the diplomat who keeps the channels to Russia open.

The left also celebrated successes

With so much Ukraine conflict, the other strong passages in the speech were almost lost. A special moment was also when Steinmeier praised his opponent, Gerhard Trabert, who had been nominated by the Left Party, for his commitment to combating poverty and offered him the opportunity to work together to raise public awareness of the issue of homelessness. Because in the end, this federal assembly did not have just one winner. The left was also successful with its strategy of nominating a candidate who stands for a topic in terms of content.

Trabert not only got more votes than the left delegates – Stefanie Gebauer also managed to do that in her camp. Trabert also found an important ally for his commitment to the homeless.