German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier are hoping Hillary Clinton will win the US presidential elections, German daily newspaper Die Welt writes, adding that the federal government is very anxious about the possibility of Donald Trump occupying the White House.
"Wednesday will start as an ordinary day in Berlin's government headquarters. The cabinet will meet, as always on that day. At 9 a.m. the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag will hold a meeting. However, there will be only one issue on the agenda that day: the outcome of the American presidential election," Die Welt points out.
According to the media outlet, the German leadership is concerned about the fact that Trump lacks both expertise in foreign policy and a consistent strategy.
In the eyes of the German Foreign Ministry, Trump may only cause an enormous amount of disagreement between the countries, whether regarding free trade or has attitude toward Muslims.
Needless to say, Berlin is well aware of Trump's criticism of Merkel's open door immigration policy.
Commenting on Time magazine choosing Merkel the Person of the Year, he tweeted: "I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite. They picked the person who is ruining Germany."
I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 декабря 2015 г.
Furthermore, during the course of the presidential,rump has repeatedly warned that his political rival, Hillary Clinton, "wants to be America's Angela Merkel."
"What Trump thinks about Europe, what he is going to do with the EU, is also completely unclear," Die Welt notes.
"When I look at Washington, I am worried," Gauck highlighted in his interview with the German magazine Spiegel Online.
"We can't say what could be expected from a President Donald Trump. To me, and to many people in the United States and here at home, this constitutes a problem," he pointed out.
While Berlin is pinning its hopes on the Democratic presidential nominee, it would be an exaggeration to say that the Germans view Clinton's potential victory as a blessing for their country.
"Of course, the Foreign Ministry hopes for Clinton's victory, even though a US administration under her leadership would be certainly not an easy partner [for Germany]," Die Welt remarks, suggesting that Clinton would probably act tougher than Obama and demand that the EU demonstrate more commitment to NATO.
"Clinton will demand a new transatlantic burden sharing, which means that Europeans will have a greater share in costs," it notes.
The US presidential election is being held on November 8. The choice of American citizens will genuinely determine relations between the US and EU for years to come, according to some experts.
Speaking to Sputnik, John Mearsheimer, a renowned American political scientist, noted that he doesn't think that "the relations between the European Union and the United States will be affected at all if Hillary Clinton wins."
"It will be the continuation of the same policy towards the European Union and Western Europe that President Obama has pursued," he believes.
However, "if Donald Trump wins… I think the United States will probably get into more hostile relations with Western Europe," Mearsheimer deems.
