Brexit and Merkel: British journalists' myopia

 

Brexit and Merkel: British journalists' myopia

When you witness the coverage of negotiations about Brexit, much of the British mass media suffers from political myopia. They try to emphasize how much trouble the British Prime Minister Theresa May is in but they fail to understand the amount of trouble those seen as the stronger party - EU - are facing. In spite of the said myopia, I heard an enlightening question: how much coverage and interest there is in other parts of the EU about Brexit? The answer: not much. In fact, in the rest of the EU the political world is much more interested in a rift caused by differences between EU countries and in particular about the issue of immigration. Brexit is very low in the EU list of priorities given the enormous problems that EU is facing in other areas.

One of the main players - if not the main player - German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces the prospect of not being German Chancellor for much long. She is heading a last minute Coalition of Despair. If any of her partners - either CSU or SPD - or both falter, her government would fall. She could be out before March 2019. In a few days time there will be State Elections in Bavaria - CSU territory. In an effort to keep AfD at bay, the CSU has been increasingly critical of Angela Merkel. Whether this is an electoral strategy to fool German voters or genuine CSU concerns, CSU popularity ratings have been falling.