THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS DAILY

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 09, 2016

ELECTION PARTY Watches the U.S. Drama Unfold DANIEL TOST

The perhaps most globally-anticipated U.S. election of all time is underway. Nowhere else in is there as much interest in the outcome as in Berlin.

WHY IT MATTERS FACTS tial election campaign and only 20 percent consider the U.S. elec- Germany is the biggest European Many citizens of Berlin as well as toral system to be democratic. trading partner of the U.S. and American expats don’t spend the sixth largest market for U.S. election night at home, but at one Until today, German Chancellor exports. Numerous U.S. election of numerous election parties has remained mum night parties are taking place in across the city. on the U.S. presidential cam- Berlin, where interest is particu- paign. larly high. 54 percent of Germans said they were scared by the U.S. presiden-

he United States’ brutal presi- cans should make less use of their Hillary Clinton. And among German T dential election campaign has leading role in the world. economists, a recent poll by the scared many Germans. Munich-based Ifo Institute found Yet, the majority of Germans are still that 99 percent would vote Democ- According to a recent INSA survey, 54 pro-American: 53 percent see the U.S. ratic. percent stated they were frightened as an important ally, regardless of and only 20 percent consider the U.S. who the next president might be. To Nowhere else in Germany is there as electoral system to be democratic. A be sure, if the German public had a much interest in the elections as in whopping 60 percent think Ameri- chance to vote in today’s election, Berlin. This is not only due to the they’d still overwhelmingly pick more than 16,000 U.S. citizens that currently have their main residence in the German capital and were able to vote for Ms. Clinton or . Berliners also share deep his- torical, emotional and economic ties with the United States.

“The suspense and concerns to- wards the election campaign are much more extreme here than else- where in Germany,” Manfred Görtemaker, professor of contempo- rary history at the University of Pots- dam, told regional broadcaster rbb.

Accordingly, many citizens of Berlin TV broadcasters setting up for election night in Berlin. Source: Barbara Woolsey as well as American expats don’t spend election night at home, but at coming American president. CBS live on a governmental level are current- one of numerous election parties coverage is being broadcast live. ly better than ever. across the city. One of the largest will be the official U.S. election night par- The event’s audience includes a vari- As was to be expected, the German ty, organized by the Aspen Institute ety of high-level guests, such as the federal government so far has mostly and the embassy of the United States U.S. ambassador to Germany John B. been keeping quiet on the U.S. elec- of America, in cooperation with Han- Emerson, Deputy Finance Minister tions, even though some senior offi- delsblatt Global. and Agriculture Minister cials have vocally condemned Mr. Christian Schmidt, who is also presi- Trump. In the background, About 1,200 guests from the spheres dent of the German Atlantic Associa- plans have been put together to deal of , economy, science and cul- tion. with the impact a Trump victory may ture will be spending the night at the have on the economy and on securi- Baden-Württemberg State Represen- , Germany’s deputy ty. tation, located in the embassy dis- chancellor and economics minister, trict on Berlin’s famous Tiergarten paid a short visit, talking to public On Monday, Angela Merkel’s Street only minutes away from the broadcaster ARD. Handelsblatt Glob- spokesman Steffen Seibert refused to and the federal chan- al spoke to Interior Minister Thomas comment on how the chancellor will cellery. de Maizière, who pointed out that be informing herself about the elec- even a Clinton presidency would tion outcome, merely stating: “We Against the gloomy backdrop of a mean tougher times in relations be- are assuming we will have a result by typically rainy and cold November tween the U.S. and Europe. Wednesday and then there will be a evening in Berlin, experts are analyz- reaction by the federal government.” ing the election outcomes and dis- Jürgen Hardt, coordinator of trans- cussing potential effects on U.S. for- Atlantic cooperation at Germany’s But Ms. Merkel broke her silence eign, security, and economic policy foreign ministry, told us that rela- during a press conference with Nor- as well as German and European tions between the U.S. and Germany way’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, hopes and expectations for the in- on Tuesday. The German leader said a victory by Hillary Clinton would Also follow our coverage from the bring the world closer to gender heart of the action in downtown DC READ THIS ARTICLE ONLINE equality. “Then we would come one in our live blog here. http://hbge.net/kbu0z step closer to a balance between men and women in leading posi- Daniel Tost is an editor with Handels- tions,” Ms. Merkel said. blatt Global in Berlin. You can reach him at [email protected]

HANDELSBLATT GLOBAL 3 NOVEMBER 09, 2016