Visit to Sweden
Dancing Söder in Stockholm
CSU leader Markus Söder visits the ABBA Museum in Stockholm. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
Markus Söder’s second trip abroad in just a few weeks is to Sweden. The highlight actually: a reception with Queen Silvia. But then there are two minutes of Söder-ABBA.
At first he just moves his hips, swings his arms, gestures. Then he moves his lips and reads the text – even if nothing can be heard at first. Only later does his voice come through in individual places. “The performance is even better than the singing,” he says afterwards with a little hint of demonstrative self-irony.
PR professional goes viral
Doesn’t matter. In the end, Söder’s entire ABBA performance lasts less than two minutes – but the PR professional has done it again: the videos are going viral on social media.
Söder is a politician who thinks in pictures and videos like no other. Who presents himself in a way that sometimes causes enemies and sometimes friends to shake their heads critically and doubtfully. The fact is: On platform X alone (formerly Twitter), the video on Söder’s account was viewed tens of thousands of times within a short period of time. By the afternoon it had already been used more than 150,000 times.
“When you think of Sweden, you automatically think of ABBA,” says Söder after his short appearance – and rushes to the next appointment: with the defense and civil defense ministers. He had already been received by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson the evening before.
And the “emotional highlight” of his three-day trip was still to come: a reception with Queen Silvia. The time had come on Thursday afternoon. For a regional prime minister, such an appointment at the royal palace is anything but usual. But what is usual for and with Söder?