USA visit
Baerbock in Texas: Conservatives and autonomous driving
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sits in a self-driving car from VW-USA and Mobileye in Austin. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Immediately after her visit to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Baerbock is visiting Texas. In the southern state and later in the capital Washington, she wants to get a feel for the mood in the country.
Baerbock arrived in the Texas capital Austin in the afternoon (local time) for a multi-day visit to the USA. Against the backdrop of the US presidential election in November 2024, she wants to find out about the political mood in the country. A conversation with the governor of Texas, the conservative Republican Greg Abbott, is planned later.
The Foreign Minister and part of her delegation were taken from an airport terminal to an appointment with local journalists in self-driving vehicles from a US company. The company carries out test drives with such cars for Volkswagen.
VW project for autonomous driving
Volkswagen’s US subsidiary launched its first autonomous driving project in Austin in July. There are currently ten fully electric vehicles in use. The pilot program is still in its early stages. At the same time, VW started a corresponding project in Munich.
The technology platform used to control the vehicles was developed in cooperation with the Israeli company Mobileye. The project is expected to be rolled out over the next three years and expanded to other cities in the USA. During the test phase, all vehicles have drivers who can intervene in an emergency.
Baerbock: Pooling forces with transatlantic partners
Before her departure, Baerbock had explained, with a view to the USA, that she wanted us as friends and partners to be able to “rely on each other tomorrow and the day after”, to pool our strengths and do things together. Topics include the development and regulation of critical technologies, reducing risky economic dependencies and dealing with the global climate crisis.
Texas is a yardstick for the America of tomorrow, said Baerbock. As the second most populous state in the USA, it is “an economic powerhouse”. The state is making giant strides towards wind and solar energy. At the same time, with the intensive use of its oil and gas reserves, it still has one foot in the fossil past. Centrifugal forces can also be felt socially. “I’m interested in better understanding what motivates people,” said the Foreign Minister, explaining the reason for her trip.
Meeting with Republican Abbott
Abbott has been in office since 2015. His policies differ radically from Baerbock’s line. Texas, with its border with Mexico, has one of the most restrictive immigration laws of any US state. According to the Foreign Office, Abbott’s legislative initiative allows almost all women and men aged 21 and over to carry firearms in public without a license. The governor also supports restrictive abortion laws.
The southern US state is considered one of the Republican strongholds. Texas is the second largest US state in terms of area after Alaska and is about twice the size of Germany. With around 30 million inhabitants, Texas is the second most populous state after California. More than 40 percent of the population has a Hispanic migrant background. If Texas were its own state, it would be the ninth largest economy in the world.
The political orientation differs between cities and rural areas. In the 2020 presidential election, large urban areas voted Democratic and rural areas voted Republican.