His journey should have taken place long ago, but the traffic lights came in between. Now the Steinmeier visit was in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey under the impression of Trump's Gaza ideas.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier stands surrounded by young girls. All of them have green jerseys – like the Saudi national team. The Federal President brought football coach Monika Stab to Riad in his delegation. Until recently, she was a trainer of the women's Saudi national soccer team. It has built up women's football in Saudi Arabia. In Riad, she explains to the Federal President what she has created in the desert state.
Women's football and Saudi Arabia: Apparently it doesn't fit together, but it is a sign that the kingdom slowly opens. In 2034 there will be a men's world championship. Until then, the country should also be attractive for tourists. If you walk through the streets of Riad in the evening, you can see all kinds of veil – but also women who no longer wear a headscarf.
Saudi Arabia stands against Trump
The trip should actually take place last year. It was postponed because of the traffic light break in Germany. The state visit is the first of a Federal President in the Kingdom. Now Steinmeier comes at a suitable time. The announcement by US President Donald Trump and want to move the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip moves the region.
Actually, the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom everyone calls only MBS, has a very good relationship with the new US president. The two men unite the idea of understanding politics about business deals. But when it comes to relocation, Saudi Arabia arises against Trump. To drive out more than two million people from their homeland against the rules of international law, which is difficult for the Saudis. Steinmeier takes this message to the next station of his trip.
In the Jordan capital Amman, he meets King Abdullah II. Jordan has already recorded many Palestinians in the past decades. Around 50 percent of the Arab-born population has Palestinian roots. That harbors conflicts. Although the Jordanians basically have empathy for the Palestinians, the country could overwhelm more than a million refugees, according to the Federal Government.
Jordan sees himself blackmailable
Before the appointment with the king, Steinmeier meets in Amman with experts for Jordan. Among them is the representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on site. Edmund Ratka knows the country well, he has lived here since 2020. He explains why the Trump plans for Jordan are so problematic. The KAS office manager says that the support of the Trump plan would be extremely difficult for the king of its population. It is perceived as a contribution, the Palestinian thing, to finally bury the dream of the Palestinian state.
The king cannot afford that in the current political situation, in which the majority of the population already feels the course of the Jordanian government as a conciliatory towards Israel. Jordan sees himself blackmailable. The country depends on western aid. Europe had to ask itself, Ratka continues whether one wanted to put the king into a situation in which he had to make a decision between Western auxiliary funds on the one hand or the politically difficult task of conveying such a population transfer of its own population.
Even if Jordan is considered a reliable partner of the West, the country is a autocracy. There are actually no press conferences with the king. It is all the more astonishing that King Abdullah is ready to publicly say something at the meeting with Steinmeier. The message is not in the manageable content, but in the gesture to the German guest. Jordan needs European partners. For this, the king even briefly gives up his skepticism with freedom of the press.
Worry about growing Islam hostility in Germany
After the conversation, Steinmeier finds clear words. He had the impression that there was hopes for an end to the military discussion in both Saudi Arabia and Jordan. However, a solution under non -thought or even violation of international law is unacceptable. But Steinmeier also gets headwind.
In all three target countries of his trip, his conversation partners speak of their concern about growing anti -Islam in Germany. So also on the third stop of his trip: Ankara, the capital of Türkiye. Here the Federal President meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On the final press statement, this says: Unfortunately, the xenophobia, racism, but also anti -Islam is also increasing in Europe. This also leads to concern in the Turkish community.
In conversation between the two, however, other things probably play a more important role. In addition to the question of how a peaceful future would be possible for the Turkish neighboring country of Syria, it is again about the relocation question in the Gaza Strip. Erdogan does not mention the topic in his statement in any word. He may save himself the words for a conversation with US President Trump.
