September 25, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 12, 1428

BERLIN: Angela Merkel moved swiftly to mend ties with Washington when she took power two years ago, forging a close bond with President George Bush over barbecues in eastern Germany and cosy White House dinners.

But as the German chancellor flies to the United States this week to speak to the United Nations, small cracks are emerging in a relationship both sides have worked hard to nurture following the strains of the Iraq war.

On issues ranging from Iran’s nuclear programme to Afghanistan, US missile shield plans and Kosovo, Merkel’s cautious, consensual approach has begun to grate in Washington, US diplomats say.

Meanwhile, the arrival of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose tough rhetoric on Iran and other big international issues underscores German timidity, has given the White House a new America-friendly European leader to work with.

“A lot of people are beginning to ask ‘Where’s the beef?’” a US diplomat, who requested anonymity, said of Merkel. “She has brought a welcome change of tone, but on the policy front it is sometimes tough to see much difference to the (former Chancellor Gerhard) Schroeder government.”

Berlin is currently resisting pressure from France and the United States to adopt a new round of European sanctions against Iran if the UN Security Council fails to reach a consensus on more punitive measures this week.

For months, Germany has rebuffed US calls to send its troops to southern Afghanistan to fight a Taliban uprising. And earlier this year Washington tried in vain to persuade Merkel to give strong public backing to US plans to deploy parts of a missile shield in central Europe.

On the burning issue of independence for breakaway Serbian province Kosovo, Germany has also avoided spelling out a clear line in the hopes of keeping a divided Europe together.

GO-TO LEADER: German officials acknowledge differences of opinion, but dismiss talk of any strains in the relationship between Berlin and Washington.

Merkel and Bush speak via secure video conference every two to three weeks. In their last conversation on Thursday, Bush saluted Merkel’s leadership role in Europe, a senior adviser to the German chancellor told Reuters.

“I am not aware of any complaints about Germany,” he said.

But Sarkozy, and to a lesser extent, new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, have clearly raised the bar for Merkel and diluted her position as Washington’s go-to leader in Europe.

German historian and conservative commentator Michael Stuermer, writing in German newspaper Die Welt, described this shift as a major challenge for the German government.

“Sarkozy’s France is more Atlantic, more modern, more active,” Stuermer wrote. “Germany faces a key question: Does it stand for Europe, for world order, for freedom? Or is it a country with limited responsibilities that is unreliable on key issues.”

COALITION CONSTRAINTS: Whether Merkel, who sits atop a fragile “grand coalition” of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD), is in a position to meet these high expectations is questionable.

A redeployment of German troops to southern Afghanistan might satisfy Washington, but it could also tear her governing partnership apart.

Merkel’s delicate domestic balancing act was underlined last week when her Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was lambasted by the SPD in parliament for his aggressive anti-terror push.

Unlike Merkel, who has kept her popularity high and her coalition intact by focusing on softer issues like climate change, her counterpart in Paris has few constraints at home to worry about.

That contrast may become increasingly clear in the coming months as deadlines loom on Iran and Kosovo, and Merkel faces rising pressure from Washington and other allies to take clear, hard lines.

“Sarkozy came out of the French election with a terrific majority and mandate. That is something Merkel does not have,” said Jackson Janes, director of the American Institute of Contemporary German Studies in Washington.

“She has two years to go in a coalition which everyone can see is very brittle.”—Reuters