Washington, of course, the transatlantic alliance. Paris, of course, the Franco-German friendship. Brussels, of course, the many EU summits. But why Vilnius? Or Nairobi? Or Santiago? Or, no kidding, Ngerulmud?
Since the traffic light came into power, the members of the federal government have been flying around the world as if they had to collect bonus miles for their re-election. Above all Olaf Scholz.
Since taking office in December 2021, the Chancellor alone has made 71 trips to 50 countries on five continents. That is well over half of the 89 countries that it took Angela Merkel almost 16 years to travel to. In addition, Scholz travels more outside of Europe than his predecessor in her early years. Which doesn’t mean that he would neglect the closest partners: Scholz was alone in France eleven times – and that’s not counting the last vacation on the Côte d’Azur.
After a short break during the summer holidays, traffic light traffic is starting again these days. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had just taken off for Australia, New Zealand and Fiji – and had to cancel because her flight service plane broke down. The highlight of their originally planned trip: the visit to the semi-finals of the soccer World Cup in Sydney. Unfortunately without German participation, but feminist foreign policy knows no national borders.
As a rule, however, the travel routes of the powerful have a strictly political background. Several cabinet members headed for some destinations in quick succession, sometimes even at the same time, because international summits were taking place there. Apart from these special cases, however, the flight plan of the “traffic light airline” shows what priorities the government wants to set in foreign policy – and which regions of the world it prefers to deal with. What is the calculation behind each? A political guide in five chapters.
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