GERMANY AND RUSSIA

The Trans-European Waltz

By Uwe Klußmann, Christian Neef and Matthias Schepp

Irritated with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin is turning his attention to Germany. But during a planned visit to Germany next week, Putin may discuss proposals with Angela Merkel that she is likely to reject -- including the idea of a European-Russian free trade zone.


REUTERS
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany's values are more American than Russian. The comment "was a blow to Putin."The Russian political world has never had problems with women, historically speaking. Four Czarinas ruled Russia in the days of the monarchy, including Catherine II, a German who steered the Russian empire for 34 years. But in post-Soviet Russia, where women outnumber men by a figure of 11 million, women are almost completely absent from the political ranks.
"Having a woman occupy the country's highest office is currently about as unimaginable as having a Chechen in that position," says Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociology professor. But that's not the only reason why patriarchal Russia has found it so difficult to deal with Angela Merkel, who became Germany's first female chancellor last year. Moscow is troubled by a new sense of seriousness that has characterized German-Russian relations since she first visited the Kremlin in mid-January. The Russian giant -- rich in treasure and resources, but with a sluggish economy -- also has ambitions in Europe that Merkel could frustrate.

(see the article in: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,441107,00.html)