“The “spectator” from Germany”. This is what der Spiegel magazine calls the chancellor. The spotlight is on his face, because tomorrow Tuesday, 03.03 the “spectator” meets the president in the Oval Office and in the midst of war. The visit has been planned for a long time, but it takes on special significance. According to the government spokesman, the German government was informed by the Israeli side minutes before Saturday’s operations began. After the attacks began, the chancellor also spoke by phone with the Israeli prime minister. Berlin does not seem to have been particularly surprised after Mertz’s visits to countries in the Arabian Peninsula in early February.
His discussions focused almost exclusively on one question: Will the US and Israel attack Iran? And if so, will the Arab states, allies of the US, be targeted by the mullahs’ regime? “The concern is very, very great,” Mertz said in the United Arab Emirates, the last stop on his tour. In retrospect, the Gulf monarchs’ concern was justified.
And international law?
With the beginning of the bombings, early in the morning of last Saturday, the heads of the countries of the E3 group – Germany, France, Britain – consulted by telephone and issued a joint statement. Mertz, Macron and Starmer criticized the Iranian regime in a strong tone, condemning the “arbitrary military attacks” against states in the region and declaring cooperation with the US, to defend their interests and those of the allies in the region, “even with possibly taking defensive action to destroy Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones at their source”. No mention in the three-paragraph text of a warning or even an allusion to Washington to respect international law, show restraint and not let this war, which seems to lack a strategy, escalate uncontrollably. International law, which is constantly invoked, to determine who Russia started in Ukraine.
The three European leaders are talking about nothing more than “a return to diplomacy” over Tehran’s nuclear program. But why did the negotiations break down? The usually extremely discreet mediator, Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said just last Friday, hours before the start of the US-Israeli bombardment, in an interview with the American television network CBS, that a peace agreement was “within reach” if enough space is given to diplomacy. He spoke of a “significant advance”, which “has never been achieved before”.
Germany will not “preach” to its partners
Late last Saturday afternoon, the chancellor felt the need to make another statement, this time alone. He enumerated the mullahs’ regime’s crimes in foreign and domestic policy, called for an end to Iranian military attacks in the region, and called both sides to diplomacy, stressing that Germany is not involved in this war. Again not a word about international law. The attitude of the German chancellor raises questions. Speaking at the opening of the Munich Security Conference in mid-February and in a dramatic tone, he appeared as a staunch supporter of the rules of international law and gave the impression that he would no longer accept everything coming from the White House. He even called on Europe to find its way and escape from what he called “self-imposed immaturity” towards the US.
“Authoritarian democracies may have followers, democracies have partners and allies.” The implication? Trump and I will meet in the White House as equals. The third appearance of the German chancellor in the press took place last Sunday, in the afternoon. It involved the convening of the German National Security Council, constant phone calls with allies and partners, and with the war escalating in neighboring Iran and Israel. For the first time, Mertz spoke of a dilemma facing international law. He stressed that all measures taken so far have not deterred Iran from its nuclear and missile programs and that Germany “will not preach” to its partners.
Blank check to Trump?
On the sunny afternoon of Sunday, 01.03, however, Mertz makes other impressive statements. It refers to the inability of the international community to resolve conflicts so far. Appeals from Europe, “including Germany,” condemnations of legal violations, and even extensive sanctions packages have had little effect over the years and decades, he recalls. This was also due to the fact that “we were not prepared to enforce fundamental interests, if necessary, by military force.” So what? A blank check for Trump to continue with his close partner, Israel, on the same course? No criticism, even verbal, except the exhortation to the bloodthirsty regime of Iran to stop the bombings against “our other partners” in the region.
The next act will be played on Tuesday, 03.03, in the Oval Office. The place is familiar to the chancellor. He had been together with other partners, last June, to defend the cause of Ukraine, after the humiliation of Zelensky by the US president. High on the agenda was the issue of American tariffs. But now, he must present the European position on the new war in the Middle East, which includes the joint statement of the 27 foreign ministers, among other things, on “full respect for international law”.
The German “dilemma” remains…
At Monday’s briefing, government spokesman Stefan Cornelius, when asked whether violations of international law on the one hand justified violations of international law on the other, admitted that “sometimes, these assessments have little effect if you weigh the situation on the ground.” He relayed the chancellor’s view that these assessments “are all the more disappointing when they remain largely inconsequential and this is mainly about Iran’s actions”.
But who still believes that the war in Iran is for Tehran’s nuclear arsenal and is not aimed at overthrowing the bloodthirsty regime, by unilateral decision of the US, without even informing Congress? Who still thinks that aerial bombardment is enough and that a ground army might not be needed? Pandora’s Box has been opened.
