Merkel’s Re-Election Seen as Good News for Transatlantic Ties

Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Peter Wittig, cites ‘stability’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s re-election to a fourth term on September 24 is good news for the United States, which can continue to rely on Germany to be a “great transatlantic partner,” Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Peter Wittig, said in an interview.

“It is good news in terms of continuity, reliability of our country, of its role in Europe, of its role in the world,” Wittig said.


Wittig joined Atlantic Council nonresident senior fellow Evelyn Farkas for a Facebook Live interview on September 25.

The anti-immigration, anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) received 12.6 percent of the vote becoming the first nationalist party to be represented in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, since World War II.

Wittig said AfD’s electoral success “is not an earthquake, but it is a factor that gives us some food for thought.”  

Ashish Kumar Sen is deputy director of communications at the Atlantic Council. Follow him on Twitter @AshishSen.

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Image: Christian Democratic Union CDU party leader and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a news conference at the CDU party headquarters, the day after the general election (Bundestagswahl) in Berlin, Germany September 25, 2017. (REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)