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Interview with FDP Leader Guido Westerwelle

'Let's Take Obama at His Word'

Guido Westerwelle, 47, is the chairman of Germany's business-friendly Free Democratic Party and could well be German foreign minister after September's national elections. He spoke with SPIEGEL about how Berlin should deal with US President Barack Obama, the urgency of disarmament and why Russia is not Germany's enemy.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Westerwelle, according to current polls, a coalition of your business-friendly Free Democrats together with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives could form the new German government after September's national election, with you as foreign minister. What will you do differently?

Guido Westerwelle: Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We have to win the election first. Then we'll conduct coalition negotiations, and the decision as to who assumes which post will come last.

SPIEGEL: Sorry, but in the past 40 years, the smaller coalition partner in every coalition government has appointed the foreign minister and vice-chancellor. Do you intend to turn down the position?

Westerwelle: Your comment about the past is correct. But I am not so immodest as to anticipate the outcome of the election in a SPIEGEL interview.

SPIEGEL: But if it does happen that way, you would be the successor of such FDP statesmen as (former foreign ministers) Walter Scheel and Hans-Dietrich Genscher. Are you being so uncharacteristically reserved because you sense that those shoes might be too big to fill?

Westerwelle: Those shoes are indeed very big. Let me answer your question in the following way: The FDP, as a party, would be quite capable of assuming responsibility for foreign policy in an alliance government with the conservatives.

SPIEGEL: So what would this nameless FDP foreign minister do differently?

Westerwelle: In principle, we would continue the foreign policy of Chancellor Merkel and her foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. An FDP foreign minister would not embark on an abrupt change of course. However, we would change the emphasis somewhat, especially when it comes to our relationship with the new American president, Barack Obama. In this regard, the current administration has not taken full advantage of opportunities.

SPIEGEL: Are you criticizing Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has so far maintained a certain distance from the new man in the White House?

Westerwelle: In particular, I find it regrettable that the current administration is waiting for America's new foreign policy positions instead of actively influencing the process of forming these new positions. When President Obama, speaking in Prague recently, called for a world free of nuclear weapons, the German government should have supported his proposal with its own initiatives. There is currently a window of opportunity in disarmament policy, but it could soon close. In the past, German administrations always understood foreign policy as a policy of disarmament and peace. At present, we tend to be just looking on as the process unfolds.

SPIEGEL: Is that an accusation against Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier? He enthusiastically welcomed the American proposals. It's the chancellor who is the hesitant one.

Westerwelle: When an administration is unable to accomplish something, the entire administration has to take responsibility. You claim that Mr. Steinmeier is of a different opinion. Okay, then the problem, apparently, is that he either cannot or does not want to assert himself.

SPIEGEL: If Frank-Walter Steinmeier can't assert himself, then how will an FDP foreign minister be able to assert himself?

Westerwelle: No one can accuse the FDP of not being sufficiently assertive on matters of foreign policy. During his term in office, former Foreign Minister Genscher, at a time when the FDP had significantly fewer seats in the parliament (than Steinmeier's Social Democrats do now), pressed ahead with disarmament initiatives, partly against the will of his coalition partner, the SPD, or the CDU. That takes courage.

SPIEGEL: You have been critical of the debate over the US missile shield, with which the United States intends to protect Eastern Europe against Iranian nuclear attacks. What are your specific criticisms of the German government?

Westerwelle: The government allowed the debate to continue. It should have taken a stand much earlier and should have addressed valid European and Russian concerns. Now we could face an arms race that threatens our security interests.

SPIEGEL: Eckart von Klaeden, the foreign policy spokesman for the CDU's parliamentary group, complains that you have taken an overly Russia-friendly position. Does that bother you?

Westerwelle: No, of course not. It just shows that there a still few supporters of former US President (George W.) Bush's neoconservative policies in Germany. And they are members of the CDU parliamentary group. When I was in Moscow recently, I met with Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister (Sergei) Ivanov. I gained the impression that Moscow, perhaps partly because of the desolate state of its own armed forces, has a particular interest in conventional disarmament. Now that's an opportunity!

SPIEGEL: Obama wants to stand by the missile shield for as long Iran refuses to abandon its nuclear program.

Westerwelle: Naturally, the regime in Tehran should never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. But let's take Obama and Medvedev at their word for now. Neither the president in Washington nor his counterpart in Moscow has been shaped by the Cold War. It would great if concrete talks about disarmament -- both nuclear and conventional -- would finally return to global politics, especially now that all we have talked about since Sept. 11, 2001 has been rearmament. If the FDP takes on governing responsibilities, we will press, within NATO, for the withdrawal of the last nuclear warheads from Germany.

SPIEGEL: Many in the conservative camp are concerned that Moscow could return to its earlier superpower policies. Doesn't this worry you?

Westerwelle: The notion, which some conservatives have, that Russia is our strategic adversary is fundamentally wrong. I am aware of the constitutional deficits there. But Russia has a strong interest in a partnership with Germany and Europe.

SPIEGEL: There was no evidence of that during the dispute over natural gas shipments.

Westerwelle: I addressed the issue critically in Moscow. It would be naïve to believe that Russia would never take advantage of its position as a strong energy supplier. That's one of the reasons we advocate more energy independence. However, Russia also has a strong interest in obtaining foreign currency by selling its energy reserves.

SPIEGEL: Your endorsement of peace and disarmament sounds appealing to many voters. But it's also a bit unrealistic, given the growing number of military conflicts in the world.

Westerwelle: The use of military force must always be a last resort. Increasing troop strength doesn't make for stronger foreign policy.

SPIEGEL: But that's precisely the approach Obama seems to be taking in Afghanistan, where he intends to add more troops. The FDP parliamentary group has vacillated between supporting and opposing the deployment of the Bundeswehr to Afghanistan. What is your current position?

Westerwelle: The FDP supports the Afghanistan mission. We were unable to support it in 2001, for example, because (then-Chancellor) Gerhard Schröder tied it to a confidence vote.

SPIEGEL: It gave you the opportunity to take the entirely populist approach of distancing yourself from the mission.

Westerwelle: That's wrong. We have always said that the Afghanistan mission is difficult and dangerous and involves large responsibilities. Nevertheless, we believe it is necessary, based on our own security interests. We also voted in favor of the mission the last time the Bundeswehr's mandate was extended.

SPIEGEL: And has the mission served our own security interests until now?

Westerwelle: The terrorists no longer have a safe haven provided by the government. During my visit to the country in 2007, the Afghan foreign minister said to me: If you leave now, Kabul will turn into the world capital for terrorists once again. In addition, the mission has brought the Afghan people new schools, roads and better medical care. However, it was a delusion from the very start to believe that a Western-style democracy could be established in Afghanistan.

SPIEGEL: Should international troops withdraw now, when not even the protection of human rights has been guaranteed?

Westerwelle: One goal of the mission is to end it as quickly as possible. For that reason, it is completely unacceptable that the German government is not taking the development of the police force seriously enough. So far, Germany has provided less than half of the training personnel it had promised. In other words, the federal government has not lived up to its responsibilities. We will change that.

SPIEGEL: The conflict is expanding into Pakistan, whose government is also asking the Germans for substantial development aid and military assistance. Will you comply with those requests?

Westerwelle: We have an interest in a stable Pakistan. But Pakistan also has to do its part.