Not So Warm Welcome for Bush

"The state is arguing that Merkel’s government, which invited Bush in the first place, should pay. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is plagued by high unemployment, a weak economy with little industry and it has severe financial problems. With state elections coming up this fall, there is little appetite for picking up millions of euros in expenses for a visit by a president most people here dislike.

Cost isn’t the only factor that critics in the state are pointing to. The junior coalition partner in the state government is the Left Party, which includes members of the successor to the East German communist party in its ranks. The pacifist Left Party has been one of Germany’s most outspoken critics of Bush’s Iraq and human rights policies. The party is officially going to take part in planned anti-Bush protests in the area, which will be held under the motto: "Not Welcome, Mr. President." As many as 5,000 protesters are expected to turn up in Stralsund — including the state’s environment and social ministers, both members of the Left Party. The planned presence of senior government officials has angered members of the center-left Social Democrats, the senior coalition partner.

In pointed comments directed at Merkel in parliament this week, the Left Party’s parliamentary floor leader, Gregor Gysi, said: "Anyone who needs George W. Bush for an election campaign in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has already lost the election. Bush isn’t welcome here."

Indeed, it’s tough to find anyone in the state with much positive to say about Bush’s visit. One reader writing in to the major regional newspaper here, the Ostsee Zeitung, remarked: "He represents the most aggressive wing of US politics." Another recommended that Germans should tell Bush to "stay home."