For a leader who avoids rhetorical flourishes and typically delivers speeches with the verve of a technocrat, Merkel’s address was uncharacteristically emotional, impressing even the opposition, who responded with enthusiastic applause at several junctures. [...]
Her reference to “patriotism,” rare for the leader of a country where the concept still makes many wince, echoed recent comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, offering a clear gesture of solidarity with an ally who has come under harsh attack from Trump for questioning his concept of nationalism.
Merkel’s primary aim with the half-hour speech, however, was less to defend Macron than to offer a spirited defense of the global order, the foundation of Germany’s post-war rehabilitation, which Berlin worries Trump is trying to dismantle. [...]
Trump wasn’t Merkel’s only target. She also took aim at those in Germany, including some in her own party, who question the necessity of the U.N.’s migration pact. The non-binding agreement, intended to offer “a collective commitment to improving cooperation on international migration” by setting standards for the treatment of refugees, was approved to little fanfare by the U.N. in July. Since then, it has become a lightning rod for right-wing European populists who claim that it would undermine national sovereignty and open the door to mass migration from Africa. [...]
Though Spahn appears isolated on the question of the U.N. pact, the question of migration nonetheless looms over the succession race. Even Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the CDU’s secretary-general and Merkel’s purported favorite for the top job, has pledged to revisit what happened in 2015 if elected in order to heal divisions in the party.
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