A US president has never been a guest at the security conference in Munich.
Now host Wolfgang Ischinger has invited Joe Biden - the chances are not bad at all.
Munich
-
Joe Biden's
last appearance so far in
Munich
was
between ATMs and bank statement printers.
It was February 2019, the famous Democrat from the USA was speaking at a rather small press conference on the sidelines of the
security
conference
.
Location: the headquarters of HypoVereinsbank.
It was about guns - and journalists' interest was fairly manageable.
Joe Biden in Munich in early 2021?
Security conference invites future US president
Two years later everything is different.
Due to the corona, it is not yet clear what the
security conference will
look like in
2021
- but the future
US president has
already been
invited
.
It is an honor for him to confirm this, tweeted
host Wolfgang Ischinger
happily.
No wonder: Biden would be the first incumbent president at the event, which normally takes place in February - just a few weeks after the inauguration on January 20.
And Ischinger can really hope, after all, the now 77-year-old Biden has been a regular in Munich for decades.
In this century he attended six conferences on the Isar, also as
Barack Obama's deputy
.
In 2018 and 2019 he represented the other America;
took over the counterpart to the performances of the Trump administration.
Congratulations to @jioebiden and @SenKamalaHarris!
Mr President-Elect, in Munich a year ago, you said "we will be back". Today, it is my privilege of reconfirming the invitation for you to come to Munich again - the first President of the United States to address the @MunSecConf
- Wolfgang Ischinger (@ischinger) November 8, 2020
Last year - his own candidacy for the presidency was in sight, but did not seem very promising - Biden appealed to the Europeans
not to write off
the
USA
.
"I promise you it will pass," he said, referring to the
difficulties in the transatlantic relationship
.
"We'll be back, you have absolutely no doubt about that." The United States would never give up its allies.
"We need you," he said to the conference participants, who acknowledged the speech with much applause.
Munich Siko: Angela Merkel could meet Joe Biden in 2021
A trip to Europe right at the start of his term in office could underscore what he said back then.
Especially since the 2021 security conference
is likely to be
Angela Merkel's
last
.
The Chancellor had imposed on herself only to come to Munich for every second conference, and she persisted in doing so.
Last year, for example, she left
the stage to
Emmanuel Macron
.
This time Munich should be on the calendar again, and Merkel's term of office will end in autumn.
An early meeting with Biden would therefore also be important for them.
She is already
promising
the new president more
German involvement in security issues
.
“America is and will remain our most important ally, but it expects us - and rightly so - to make greater efforts of our own to ensure our security and to stand up for our convictions in the world,” said the Chancellor yesterday.
Merkel has spoken to Biden several times in Munich -
not always easy conversations
given the
NSA eavesdropping scandal
.
But people understand each other, unlike Merkel and Trump.
Their relationship had long been disturbed.