Bush in Stralsund. Sealed with a Kiss and a Barrel of Fish

By Bjorn Hengst and Carsten Volkery in Stralsund, Germany

It’s been a long time since German-American relations
were this heartfelt. During his visit to Stralsund,
Germany, President Bush kisses the chancellor on both
cheeks, says "good morning" and expresses his thanks
for the gift of a barrel of herring.

The chancellor stands next to her husband on the
cobblestone-lined historic market square, behind
Stralsund’s medieval church and city hall. The flags
fly from the red brick building: those of the United
States, Germany and the European Union. Across the
square, at the local offices of a trade union, other
flags are being flown: 10 rainbow flags bearing the
word "Pace," Italian for peace. Angela Merkel and
Joachim Sauer are waiting for United States President
George W. Bush. She’s wearing a crème-colored blazor
and black pants and he’s wearing a gray suit. The
chancellor makes a quick hand gesture to a security
official. Should I stand here? The man nods,
everything’s perfect.

Just before 10 a.m., a black Cadillac DeVille with the
license plate "Washington DC 800-002" arrives. Bush
steps out and makes his way straight to the chancellor.
There are hand shakes and, for the first time, kisses
on the cheeks — one firmly planted on the left, the
other on the right. The president is in a good mood:
he’s got Angie on his left arm and his wife Laura on
the other. It’s the perfect photo op.

Bush tries to get as close to the spectators as he can
— people who are waving old Stars and Stripes as well
as Germany’s red, gold and black flag on the other side
of the security zone. The whole event is a carefully
staged photo opportunity with the masses. The last time
the president was in Germany — in the city of Mainz a
year and a half ago — he couldn’t have been any
further removed from the locals. His motorcade traveled
through streets that had been sealed off and were
completely empty. This time around, he didn’t want to
come across as being completely unapproachable. There
are markedly fewer police on the ground here. Around
12,500 security forces have been dispatched, but their
presence doesn’t feel as massive. But appearances are
also deceptive — in the side streets of Stralsund’s
historic center, many residents have been under a
virtual state of house arrest, unable to leave their
homes during Bush’s visit, with windows, doors and
mailboxes in the neighborhood sealed.

And the city’s market square itself is only half full
and there’s not much of a party atmosphere. The crowd
has been handpicked, with only about 1,000 guests,
including 300 sailors of the German Navy — allegedly
because there wasn’t enough room on the square for
more. Of course, when the square was open for public
viewing during the World Cup, which only ended on
Sunday, as many as 10,000 people regularly gathered in
the square to watch matches. "A lot of people just
didn’t want to come," speculates one attendee. And
despite the warmer, fuzzier feel this time around, some
of those present still find the security measures
exaggerated. Nor do they agree with Bush’s Iraq
policies. But that’s a view people here will have to
wait to see later on TV and in photos, when the images
of the protests against the president’s visit that are
taking place outside the city center are shown.

Just 15 minutes before Bush’s arrival, officials in the
city removed a protest banner from the church on the
main square. A Greenpeace activist managed to climb the
church’s steeple and unfurled a gold banner: "No Nukes,
No War, No Bush!" Officials are still trying to figure
out how a security mishap like this could have
happened. Within 10 minutes, however, it had been taken
down. For a moment, the faces of Secret Service agents
looked a bit grim. "Just smile," one said to his
colleague, "the president is coming."

Thank you, America!

Calling him "Dear George," Merkel, the German
chancellor from former East Germany who has now stepped
on to the podium to greet the president in the former
Communist city, thanks the president for the help
Washington gave when West and East Germany sought to
reunite. "Thank you for the contribution, for the
support that we have enjoyed throughout from the people
of the USA, from the American government, to help us
along the way towards German reunification." Stralsund,
which is located in the former East German state of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is the place Merkel
calls "my political home." It is a good example of all
that has been accomplished since the fall of the Wall
in 1989. Many of the city’s 600 historical monuments,
the chancellor notes, have been restored in that time
and the Hanseatic port city has been named as a UNESCO
world heritage site. Unfortunately, Bush won’t get the
chance to see much more than city’s crown jewel, the
historic marketplace. He signs the guest book in city
hall and he takes a quick look inside St. Nikolai
Church.

Greeting Merkel and city residents, Bush is full of
charm. He says "good morning," mentions the gorgeous
weather and thanks a local fisherman for the present he
gave the president: a barrel of Bismarck herring. And
as with his two previous visits with Merkel, Bush has
nothing but gushing words for the German leader. When
Americans see Merkel, he says, "We see a (leader with)
a bold vision and humble heart. I respect her judgement
and I value her opinion. We’re really trying to figure
out how to work together to solve problems."

The only person on the podium who appears to suffer
from any discomfort is Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Governor Harald Ringstorff. The president’s visit has
been nothing but trouble for the governor, who is a
member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Some local
newspapers are already predicting the collapse of the
state government which is led by a coalition between
the SPD and the Party of Democratic Socialism, the
successor party to the East German communists. The
number two man in Ringstorff’s government, Harald
Methling of the PDS, is serving as the main speaker at
an anti-Bush protest. The head of the state chapter of
the SPD has threatened to pull out of the coalition
over Methling’s decision.

No such problems for Joachim Sauer: he appears in
perfect form for the first event that he has attended
together with his wife since she became Germany’s first
female chancellor eight months ago. Germany’s "first
husband" entertains Laura Bush as their spouses, the
president and the chancellor, shake hands.

And those protests? Bush and Merkel can’t hear them
from here. More than 60 are taking place across the
country, including one here in Stralsund. But the
protesters have been banned from the city center and
the best they can do is make their voices heard outside
the city gates. Turnout is lower than expected — a few
hundred rather than the 5,000 that had been predicted.

But those aren’t the voices you hear here. Instead,
Bush encounters locals like Egbert Liskow, who belts
out a "Welcome to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania," to
the president. Last week, Liskow, who is a member of
Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party
and president of the Stralsund city council, received
his invitation. He says he RSVPed right away. After
all, you don’t exactly get the chance to see the
American president everyday. Most of the people
selected here to greet the president are members of
Merkel’s party and the same holds true for the planned
barbeque party on Thursday evening in the small village
of Trinwillershagen.

The barbeque is the high-point of Bush’s visit. Noshing
on wild boar, Merkel and Bush want to deepen their
personal relationship in a casual atmosphere. And Bush
says he wants to learn more about life under communism
in East Germany from the 50 invited guests. Germany has
been obsessed in recent days about the hunt for the
perfect wild boar to serve the president and he even
mentioned it at his press conference with the
chancellor, saying he hadn’t seen the boar yet, "but
I’ll tell you about it tomorrow after I eat it."

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