Outlook to the German federal elections - Foundation Office Greece and Cyprus
Event Reports
After a welcome by Dimitris Keridis, Professor for International Relations at Panteion University Athens, and the Head of KAS Athens, Susanna Vogt, Professor Patzelt informed the participants about the special role of Germany within the EU and the Euro zone as well as the attitudes of the German voters towards the Euro crisis –which would be a topic of great concern to the voters, but hardly discussed during the campaign. Although altogether satisfied with their current situation, the Germans would view their future with “suspicion” due to the ambiguous ending of the Euro crisis, as Professor Patzelt stated.
The popularity of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany would be, on the one hand, the consequence of her style of governing, characterised by her cautious behaviour, which would be appreciated by the Germans. On the other hand, Germany got well through the crisis compared to other European countries. Moreover, from the perspective of the German voters, the CDU under the responsibility of Angela Merkel has a high competence in social and labour policy- issues of high importance to the Germans, Professor Patzelt discerned.
In the following discussion, the expert from Dresden answered various questions from the public. Topics were inter alia the German voting system, the probability of a grand coalition of CDU and SPD, the role of the opposition parties and their positions on both European politics and the rescue of the Euro.
