US ambassador to Germany criticized for media comments
BERLIN — A member of the German government on Tuesday accused the new US ambassador in Berlin of meddling in domestic politics and aggravating already tense ties, as left-wing parties called for the staunch ally of Donald Trump to be expelled.
Richard Grenell took up his Berlin posting on May 8 and immediately irked Germany when he tweeted the same day that German companies should stop doing business with Iran as Trump quit the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
He stoked further outrage last weekend with reported comments to right-wing news website Breitbart of his ambition to “empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders”.
Grenell also raised eyebrows with his plan to host a June 13 lunch for Austria’s arch-conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, described by the US envoy as a “rock star”.
The ambassador “is interfering in our internal affairs”, said Peter Beyer, coordinator for transatlantic cooperation in Angela Merkel’s government.
“He should pay attention to the fact that we consider his start as ambassador to be difficult,” added the politician.
Former chief of the Social Democratic Party and ex-European Parliament president Martin Schulz told national news agency DPA: “What this man is doing is unheard of in international diplomacy.
“If a German ambassador were to say in Washington that he is there to empower the Democrats, he would have been kicked out immediately.
“I hope that Kurz’s visit will lead Mr Grenell’s tenure as ambassador in Germany to be short,” added Schulz, playing on the German word for short — “kurz”.
Schulz had earlier tweeted that the US envoy did not behave like a diplomat but rather like a “far-right colonial officer”.
Amid the row, Germany’s
What this man is doing is unheard of in international diplomacy.”
Martin Schulz,
Foreign Ministry is seeking clarification from Grenell about his comments, with the topic to be raised at a prearranged meeting on Wednesday between the envoy and senior official Andreas Michaelis.
“There will certainly be a lot to discuss and that’s why it’s good that the ambassador will be a guest tomorrow of state secretary Michaelis,” said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Washington’s attitude
But Washington was standing by its controversial envoy.
“Ambassadors have a right to express their opinion,” US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters who asked whether Grenell had expressing the views of the administration.
“They’re representatives of the White House, whether it’s this administration or other administrations, and we hear them voicing their opinions,” she said.
“And they’re sometimes opinions that people may or may not like. And there is the right to free speech as well.”
The appointment of Grenell, a hawkish supporter of Trump’s “America First” stance, was long held up by US senators who objected to his allegedly disparaging tweets on female politicians and apparent refusal to take seriously claims of Russian meddling in the US election.
The controversy comes as ties between Germany and the United States are strained after Trump ditched the Iran nuclear deal and imposed punishing tariffs on European aluminum and steel.