When the heads of state and government of the 29 NATO partners meet, there is also a lot going on around the big event. Every summit in the Alliance is routinely flanked by dozens of events. Think tanks or NATO itself take the opportunity that many top politicians are on the ground and can act as speakers or participants of discussion rounds.
In London, the framework program was particularly dense: the day before the meeting, for example, the conference "Nato Engages" took place in Westminster Hall. In addition to Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Polish President Andrzej Duda and several defense and foreign ministers also met, discussing deterrence, the cyber threat or climate change. "Public Diplomacy" is what you call it today.
Two obvious guests from Germany were missing in London. Neither Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) nor Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) had traveled with the Chancellor to the birthday summit. Instead, Kramp-Karrenbauer set off on a military visit to Kosovo and Afghanistan at the same time.
More than unfortunate
The absence of the two Germans made for demand in London. All major NATO countries, notably the US, France and the UK, were represented as usual with defense and foreign ministers. Away from the talks of their heads of state and government, many of the ministers met in private on demand. Often such informal discussions are more productive than the official formats.
Especially for Kramp-Karrenbauer, still a newcomer to the NATO parquet, the summit would have been a good opportunity. For one, she does not know many of her counterparts yet. In addition, it was on the edge of the summit to further action in Syria. Kramp-Karrenbauer received a great deal of attention in this area with her push for an international protection force, but raised many questions in the partner nations.
Kramp-Karrenbauer proposal is still controversial. For it was unprofessional to announce a radical change of course in foreign policy without consultation in the coalition. More weighty, however, is the suspicion that the CDU boss was only concerned with his own profile. In this situation, an appearance at the edge of the NATO meeting in London would have been a good opportunity to explain itself.
AP / Michael son
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Heiko Maas (at the cabinet table): open contradiction in the Syrian strategy
The fact that the German Minister of Defense did not appear made experienced diplomats shake their heads. "It is more than unfortunate that here in London has lost a chance to explain the German position internationally," said Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference.
In London, the former ambassador to the US was one of the co-organizers of Nato Engages. For the conference, he said, he had "naturally" invited both Kramp-Karrenbauer and Maas. Both would have canceled.
From Ischinger's perspective, this is more than a diplomatic side note. "The absence was not helpful, after all, Germany within NATO is not just brilliant on burden-sharing," said the diplomat. Consequently, it would make sense to explain the German position not only in the secret NATO rounds but also publicly.
Did Merkel not want them with them?
Even harder is the opposition with Kramp-Karrenbauer to court. Greens defense politician Tobias Lindner had traveled to London for political appointments and participated in a high-profile round of European armaments policy. That the Defense Minister was missing, he considers incomprehensible: "Who sets such priorities, do not be surprised if he stands on the political side-line."
Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS
US President with escort: Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accompanied Trump to London
Why Maas and Kramp-Karrenbauer avoided London is not clear. Officially, it was said before the summit that there was no program for the ministers during the meeting, which is the only reason why Angela Merkel is traveling alone. In fact, a dinner for the ministers took place in London parallel to the dinner of the heads of state. In addition, there had been countless spontaneous ministerial meetings on the sidelines, it was said at NATO.
More interesting, therefore, is an interpretation circulating in Berlin. Accordingly, the Chancellor had made it clear that she did not want to have the two ministers in tow. For some time now, Merkel has been annoyed by the quarrels in her cabinet, which, according to Kramp-Karrenbauer's Syria proposal, were openly contradictory and until today did not come together.
The fact that Merkel Kramp-Karrenbauer did not want to have her side seems to be comprehensible for other reasons as well. Having one's own party leader and possible successor in talks with heads of state in the delegation could seem strange. Bad tongues also claim that Merkel had wanted to avoid Kramp-Karrenbauer in London announcing new foreign policy ideas. The Chancellor does not like such surprises at all.