Of course that is suppost to be an attention getter only!
What the Prague Post has to say about Angela Merkel, the new German Chancellor is enlightening:
http://www.praguepost.comMerkel's past could help (Czech - German) relations
New German chancellor is first in memory to have Czech ties
By Kristina Alda
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 19, 2005
To Germans, new Chancellor Angela Merkel represents a pair of historic developments: the first female ever to hold the position in that country and the first from the former East Germany since the fall of communism.
But to Czechs, there is a third: The woman replacing outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schr�der after complex political negotiations has also become the first German leader in long memory who can claim real ties to the Czech Republic.
Merkel, who reportedly has a working knowledge of the Czech language, studied physics at the Academy of Sciences in Prague during the late 1970s and early 1980s � a time that might have helped give shape to some of the political ideals she holds today. Most political analysts suggest that the value of these ties remains purely symbolic.
Rudolf Zahradn�k, Merkel's former Czech professor and colleague at the academy, disagrees. "The fact that she comes from a former Eastern bloc country and lived through a totalitarian regime, as we did, can only have a positive effect," he said. "I think all Western politicians should experience at least several months of real socialism."
Zahradn�k, 76, now an honorary chairman at the academy, met Merkel when she came to Prague as a young physics doctoral student. He has kept in touch with her over the years. He recalls Merkel as a talented student and a warm person.
"She was very dependable, a great colleague to work with," he said. "And she was also a charming dinner companion. Very ladylike."
Some of those same qualities, however, led many skeptics to doubt her future as a politician, he said. "German colleagues used to tell me that Angela doesn't have a chance in German politics because she is a woman," he recalled. "I think many of them have changed their minds."
After years of scientific collaboration, Merkel and Zahradn�k published an article together in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1988. For many years after, Zahradn�k continued to work with Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer, a chemist.
Given Merkel's promising scientific career, many might wonder why she turned to politics. It didn't surprise Zahradn�k, though.
"When I found out she went into politics, I knew right away she would be very capable," he said. "There was a little joke among my German colleagues, soon after Angela became a minister: Through the experience of studying with Zahradn�k in Prague toward a grand political career in Bonn."
Science and politics � especially for scientists who lived under totalitarian regimes � are not as far removed as some might think. Zahradn�k's students and colleagues came from both West and East Germany. The professor's apartment on many occasions became a sort of neutral meeting ground for German scientists who had once been fellow countrymen. Inevitably, many of the debates turned political.
"We would often talk about the unsustainability of the communist regime," recalled Zahradn�k. "We were absolutely convinced it couldn't last."
Many years later, Zahradn�k said, he learned that the Czech state police had planned to wiretap his apartment.
Merkel will now head a grand coalition between Schr�der's Social Democrats and her Christian Democrats/Christian Social Union. Political experts vary in opinion on how Czech-German relations might change in the Merkel administration and what role her Czech ties might play.
After all, late last month Czech Prime Minister Jir� Paroubek maneuvered his political support behind Schr�der, meeting with him in Prague and singling out the election performance of Schr�der's German Social Democrats as an encouragement to Paroubek's own Social Democrats here.
"Under Schr�der, Czech-German relations worked on a more personal level," said Martina Lustigov�, a political scientist at Charles University. She cites the excellent relationship between Schr�der and Paroubek. "I think this era is over," Lustigov� said, but she added that German-Czech relations would likely remain friendly, with Merkel's ties to the Czech Republic unlikely to be a factor.
Tom�s Lebeda, a professor at the Institute of Sociology at the Academy of Sciences, agreed. "I wouldn't overestimate Angela Merkel's ties to the Czech Republic," he said.
"Regardless of Dr. Merkel's origins, I think that her chancellorship will certainly have positive effects on our good relations with the Czech Republic," said Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a CSU member of parliament.
However, Petr Drul�k, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at Charles University, warned against anticipating any major changes in German foreign policies under Merkel. "The differences will likely be quite subtle," he said, though he noted that Merkel will likely seek to improve comunication with smaller neighboring countries, including the Czech Republic.
It is also possible that German-Russian relations will cool somewhat under Merkel, which could please Czechs, since Central Europe held a dim view of the warm relationship between Schr�der and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Drul�k said.
Kristina Alda can be reached at
kalda@praguepost.com
