Forgive the sensationalistic topic title. Anyhow, the general thing is that, as everyone who's been following the Eurozone Crisis (I think it's fair to call it that) knows, Angela Merkel of Germany and Nicholas Sarkozy of France have been the best of friends during this whole thing. There have been discussions that essentially what Germany couldn't do with two World Wars it's doing with banking, though I think that's a bit overblown. Now though, Angela Merkel is intervening in French politics.
Sarkozy faces an election this year (voting in April and May), and opinion polls have consistently shown that he'll go down in defeat, as the majority of the French seem to want someone else. Given that he essentially has two months to turn this around, Merkel has made it clear that her choice for President of France is Nicholas Sarkozy, attacking his major opponent, François Hollande (Socialist Party), while in France. She'll even be undertaking at least two campaign appearances for Nicholas Sarkozy, including appearing when he officially announces his candidacy, according to the Spiegel Online.
The issue is that Holland wants greater interventionism in the Eurozone, including the creation of Eurobonds, something which Merkel has steadfastly resisted.
So the questions I'm putting out are, should Germany be intervening in French politics? Is it right for one nation's leader to make it so publicly known that they prefer a certain candidate?
As both of the articles I linked to have pointed out, the issue is that Merkel has to work with whoever wins the election. And Hollande looks likely to win. This isn't like the US presidential election where who knows who might be the Republican candidate, or where the polls have a far longer time to change and we have months of economic news to go. In Europe, economically, either things are going to get better, or they're going to get worse. I don't think either possibility really holds much hope for Sarkozy, he could still go down to defeat even with an improving economy. I think the self-inflicted wounds of austerity are going to reveal far more economic turmoil in Europe, rather than economic improvement. And I think that politically, Merkel is making a huge mistake. She needs to be friends with whichever person is the next president of France. The Franco-German partnership established since the 1950s is one of the cornerstones of European politics and peace. Merkel needs to smile, shake hands with Hollande, and privately attempt to influence him. Not come out publicly and campaign against him.
However, it does show just how strong that partnership has become if Merkel is willing to do this. Perhaps, if Hollande wins the election, he will return the favor during the next German election.
