The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Berlin to acknowledge what some European thinkers have been saying for years: The EU won’t survive without more forceful German leadership
For decades, even as Germany’s economic and political clout has grown, German leaders, wary of offending neighbors distrustful of its power, have resisted throwing around Berlin’s weight on the European stage — at least openly.
It soon became clear Merkel had a more pressing message: As Europe struggles with the fallout of the coronavirus, which she described as the “biggest challenge” in EU history,for Germany to step into the breach. Most significantly, Merkel made it clear that helping Europe was central to Germany’s national interest.
After the Cold War, a reunified Germany, now comfortably nestled in the center of Europe, sought to maintain a semblance of balance in its relations with the U.S., its protector, the rest of Europe and Russia, emphasizing free trade and multilateralism. It continued to define its foreign policy in terms of its “historic responsibility,” a nod to the legacy of World War II, not hard national interest.
The coronavirus outbreak rejuvenated her. For a politician with a scientific background who views politics as an intellectual exercise of complex problem-solving, the pandemic presents the ultimate challenge. She also understood that the pandemic represented a more urgent existential threat to the EU than other recent crises, people close to her say., especially as compared to the U.S. or the U.K.
For most European countries, overcoming the fallout of the pandemic, especially the economic impact, means relying on Europe, if not out of a sense of common purpose, out of basic necessity. The EU’s received wisdom holds that only the “Franco-German engine” can power the bloc forward. In the past, the people behind the wheel tended to speak French.
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