With Olaf Scholz as new German chancellor, “continuity of government wins by far” – Le Monde

Christoph Heusgen, 66, was diplomatic advisor to Angela Merkel (2005-2017) then permanent representative of germany at the United Nations in New York (2017-2021). He was elected, Monday, December 6, president of the Munich Conference on the security, of which the 58^e edition will be held from February 18 to 20, 2022.

Olaf Scholz succeeds Angela Merkel as chancellor this Wednesday, December 8. On reading the coalition contract signed between the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Liberals (FDP), do you think that his government will stand out from that of Mr.^me Merkel in matters of foreign policy?

Fairly little. The continuity largely wins out, although there are some nuances here and there. For example, I do not see the point of the planned accession of Germany, as an “observer”, to the treaty banning nuclear weapons. [adopté à l’ONU en 2017], to which no State having atomic weapons has subscribed.

A social democratic chancellor and defense minister, an ecologist foreign minister … Will Germany defend more pacifist positions on the international scene?

We might think so when we know the traditional positions of these two parties. But the coalition contract is very clear, which surprised me positively. I am thinking, for example, of the possibility of using armed drones, or of the recognition of the “Burden sharing” and Germany’s participation in nuclear deterrence within NATO. There is total continuity with the previous government there.

The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, does not rule out a ban on imports of products made in the Chinese province of Xinjiang or a boycott of the Winter Olympics (OG) scheduled for Beijing in February 2022. Do you think that is the new German government right to display such firmness vis-à-vis China from the outset?

There are many challenges – climate, trade, Iranian nuclear power, etc. – that can only be met if China is associated. That is why it is important that the new government continues to dialogue with China. As for concrete issues, the US government has just decided on a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, and the German supply chain law, adopted this year, specifically targets serious human rights violations, such as those committed in Xinjiang. The declarations of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs fall within this framework. It sends a clear message.

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