Gregor Peter Schmitz: Obama hopes to go where JFK went before
[Dr. Gregor Peter Schmitz is director of the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Transatlantic Office in Brussels.]
Barack Obama wants to hold a keynote speech on transatlantic relations in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate during his visit later this month. Spiegel Online has learned that he plans to outline a new foreign policy that consults partners more, but also makes clear demands on Europe.
When is he coming, who will he meet and, more importantly, what will he say? For days now, Berlin has been abuzz with speculation over plans for Barack Obama's first trip to Europe as the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. A July 24 date has been set by the campaign for a Berlin visit and more details are gradually emerging. During his visit to the German capital, Obama plans to hold a keynote address on transatlantic relations.
"During this campaign, Senator Obama has been criticized for his lack of interest in Europe," an Obama campaign advisor with knowledge of the planning for the trip told Spiegel. "This trip is partly a response to this, and I am sure he wants to address the issue of transatlantic relations."
The possibility has not been ruled out that the speech could instead be given in Paris or London -- the other planned stops on Obama's short Europe trip. But Obama's team likes the location of Berlin and the Brandenburg Gate. "The setting would be great," the advisor said. "The memory of John F. Kennedy's famous Berlin speech is still alive. Berlin is a bridge between East and West, and the German-American relationship is very strong," said the advisor.
President Kennedy was given a rousing reception by the people of West Berlin during his visit in 1963, when he held his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in front of the town hall in Berlin's Schöneberg district -- which lies several miles from the Brandenburg Gate...
Read entire article at Salon.com
Barack Obama wants to hold a keynote speech on transatlantic relations in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate during his visit later this month. Spiegel Online has learned that he plans to outline a new foreign policy that consults partners more, but also makes clear demands on Europe.
When is he coming, who will he meet and, more importantly, what will he say? For days now, Berlin has been abuzz with speculation over plans for Barack Obama's first trip to Europe as the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. A July 24 date has been set by the campaign for a Berlin visit and more details are gradually emerging. During his visit to the German capital, Obama plans to hold a keynote address on transatlantic relations.
"During this campaign, Senator Obama has been criticized for his lack of interest in Europe," an Obama campaign advisor with knowledge of the planning for the trip told Spiegel. "This trip is partly a response to this, and I am sure he wants to address the issue of transatlantic relations."
The possibility has not been ruled out that the speech could instead be given in Paris or London -- the other planned stops on Obama's short Europe trip. But Obama's team likes the location of Berlin and the Brandenburg Gate. "The setting would be great," the advisor said. "The memory of John F. Kennedy's famous Berlin speech is still alive. Berlin is a bridge between East and West, and the German-American relationship is very strong," said the advisor.
President Kennedy was given a rousing reception by the people of West Berlin during his visit in 1963, when he held his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in front of the town hall in Berlin's Schöneberg district -- which lies several miles from the Brandenburg Gate...