UPDATED: German minister worried about U.S. constitutional crisis after vote
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German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Wednesday that the situation in the United States after the election is explosive and that she is concerned it could lead to a constitutional crisis.
“This is a very explosive situation. This is a situation that can lead to a constitutional crisis in the U.S., as experts are rightly saying. And it is something that must cause us great concern,” she said on German television channel ZDF.
German Minister of Defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. EPA-EFE/FOCKE STRANGMANN
In Germany, the failure of Joe Biden, a committed pro-European and multilateralist, to secure a resounding win was causing deep dismay.
Politicians predicted chaos and warned the outcome had revealed the vote for Trump in 2016 was not an accident. Even if Biden is eventually declared winner, it was suggested he would be a weakened president, unable to command a Senate majority and therefore vulnerable to being overwhelmed by intense domestic pressures.
The Bundestag foreign affairs committee chairman, Norbert Röttgen, admitted the results so far had caught Germany off guard. “We are not prepared for it,” he said.
Peter Altmaier, a close political ally of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said: “I’m afraid that if it is a close result there will be a very, very long discussion. Regardless of who wins, it is bad that the US election campaign was mainly conducted on domestic issues.”
The German Green leader, Robert Habeck, said: “If Trump wins, the global order will change fundamentally. Europe must unite, otherwise it will no longer play a role internationally.”
