BERLIN — President Barack Obama is expected to use his speech at the
iconic Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday to renew calls for a reduction in
nuclear weapons.
It is not the first time the president has called for a reduction in stockpiles, but by addressing the issue in a major foreign speech, Obama is hoping to rekindle the issue, which was at the center of his early first-term agenda.
Obama will address a crowd of 5,000 invited guests at the historic landmark in the center of Berlin almost 50 years after John F. Kennedy made his famous speech at what was then West Berlin at the Rathaus Schoeneberg (town hall). Obama made a speech as a presidential candidate in the city in 2008.
BERLIN: Obama may get different reception in Berlin than in 2008
But Berliners say they are less excited about this visit and have been disappointed that he has not delivered on promises he made previously.
"He's still better than George W. Bush in terms of being open to the rest of the world and cooperation, but this vast change of the mindset in America, I don't think we've seen," said Elizabeth Osterloh, an American living in Berlin and doing an MBA in transatlantic management.
"I feel like he hasn't sent a clear enough signal yet with actions rather than his speeches for the rest of the world," she added.
In recent weeks, Obama has been the subject of intense criticism in the German media over the global internet anti-terror spying program of the National Security Agency (NSA), a program that included the surveillance of German citizens. Germany, whose history has planted a deep-rooted distrust of any sort of surveillance, has strict data-privacy laws, and the revelations of Washington's intrusion into millions of phone calls and emails has struck a nerve here.
Merkel, who is keen to secure voters' support ahead of federal elections in September, has promised to confront Obama on the prism program. But analysts say her government – and Germans – should not be surprised.
"It would be naïve to think we're not being snooped on by the Americans, the Russians, the Chinese, you name it. What's the big surprise? Finally somebody confirms what everybody with a clear mind was already suspecting," said Josef Braml, a transatlantic affairs expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
While Obama addresses the relationship between Germany and the U.S., his wife Michelle and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, will be taking a tour of the famous former frontline of the Cold War at Checkpoint Charlie and visiting the memorial of the Berlin Wall at Bernauer Street.
The 26-hour visit to Berlin will cap a three-day sojourn for Obama to Europe where he took part in the Group of Eight summit with leaders from countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
SOURCE : http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/19/germany-berlin-obama/2437139/
It is not the first time the president has called for a reduction in stockpiles, but by addressing the issue in a major foreign speech, Obama is hoping to rekindle the issue, which was at the center of his early first-term agenda.
Obama will address a crowd of 5,000 invited guests at the historic landmark in the center of Berlin almost 50 years after John F. Kennedy made his famous speech at what was then West Berlin at the Rathaus Schoeneberg (town hall). Obama made a speech as a presidential candidate in the city in 2008.
BERLIN: Obama may get different reception in Berlin than in 2008
But Berliners say they are less excited about this visit and have been disappointed that he has not delivered on promises he made previously.
"He's still better than George W. Bush in terms of being open to the rest of the world and cooperation, but this vast change of the mindset in America, I don't think we've seen," said Elizabeth Osterloh, an American living in Berlin and doing an MBA in transatlantic management.
"I feel like he hasn't sent a clear enough signal yet with actions rather than his speeches for the rest of the world," she added.
In recent weeks, Obama has been the subject of intense criticism in the German media over the global internet anti-terror spying program of the National Security Agency (NSA), a program that included the surveillance of German citizens. Germany, whose history has planted a deep-rooted distrust of any sort of surveillance, has strict data-privacy laws, and the revelations of Washington's intrusion into millions of phone calls and emails has struck a nerve here.
Merkel, who is keen to secure voters' support ahead of federal elections in September, has promised to confront Obama on the prism program. But analysts say her government – and Germans – should not be surprised.
"It would be naïve to think we're not being snooped on by the Americans, the Russians, the Chinese, you name it. What's the big surprise? Finally somebody confirms what everybody with a clear mind was already suspecting," said Josef Braml, a transatlantic affairs expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
While Obama addresses the relationship between Germany and the U.S., his wife Michelle and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, will be taking a tour of the famous former frontline of the Cold War at Checkpoint Charlie and visiting the memorial of the Berlin Wall at Bernauer Street.
The 26-hour visit to Berlin will cap a three-day sojourn for Obama to Europe where he took part in the Group of Eight summit with leaders from countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
SOURCE : http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/19/germany-berlin-obama/2437139/
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