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Germany working with partners to help end Iran war · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's not just the United States that dealing with rising
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: costs related to the Iran War. People all over the
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  Speaker 1: world are worried about higher energy bills. Here in Germany,
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  Speaker 1: Chancellor public Metz was grilled about Berlin's position. During Wednesday's
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  Speaker 1: session in parliament, Matts announced that his government was considering
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  Speaker 1: economic measures to help Germans deal with price rises stemming
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  Speaker 1: from the war, but he warned that consumers would have
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  Speaker 1: to bear some of the burden the higher costs mass
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  Speaker 1: His remarks came a day after his government came in
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  Speaker 1: for some rare criticism by Germany's largely symbolic President, Frank
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  Speaker 1: potsos Steinmeier. He said Berlin should be speaking out more
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  Speaker 1: more forcefully against the US and Israeli war in Iran.
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  Speaker 1: In parliament, Chancellor Motz said he was trying to help
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  Speaker 1: end the conflict.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, in close consultation with colleagues from the European
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  Speaker 2: Union and other countries including Britain and Norway. We're trying
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  Speaker 2: to do everything we can to persuade the United States
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  Speaker 2: and Israel to seek a diplomatic solution to this war.
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  Speaker 2: Some of the things being said don't make sense to
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  Speaker 2: us from a strategic vantage point. So we are trying
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  Speaker 2: to use our influence within the EU and other bodies
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  Speaker 2: to help bring about an end to the wars. But
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  Speaker 2: that requires willingness on all sides, including from Iran, which
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  Speaker 2: doesn't seem willing right now. Iran they often.
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  Speaker 1: For more on this, we're joined now by d WSGI
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  Speaker 1: political editor Mikhela Kufna. Miquila. Chancellor out says he and
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  Speaker 1: his European colleagues are trying to persuade the US and
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  Speaker 1: Israel to pursue a diplomatic solution to the war. Did
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  Speaker 1: he offer any details today about what exactly Germany and
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  Speaker 1: its partners are doing in that regard.
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  Speaker 3: Well, clearly they are in contact with the United States
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  Speaker 3: and just don't remind us all that there's still are
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  Speaker 3: conflicting reports between Iran and the US where the talks
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  Speaker 3: are actually taking place. So in a position to resolve that,
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  Speaker 3: and that's also something that the German chances recognized here
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  Speaker 3: that they don't have the full inside. But clearly the
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  Speaker 3: Europeans have been willing to offer whatever diplomatic avenues they
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  Speaker 3: have to help the United States and Israel, who are
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  Speaker 3: clearly set on their own path. Whatever that may be
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  Speaker 3: in detail. Clearly the Europeans and Germany with them, are
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  Speaker 3: struggling to keep up with what is the actual strategic thinking.
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  Speaker 3: Having also seen in that statement we just heard, but
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  Speaker 3: also in the past, some mild criticism that there is
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  Speaker 3: no real that the German chancer isn't really convinced that
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  Speaker 3: there is a strategy for day one after the fighting.
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  Speaker 3: And this is a lingering concern here in Germany and
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  Speaker 3: in Europe as the entire world is increasingly feeling the
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  Speaker 3: fallout of this war, which is seeing soaring energy prices.
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  Speaker 1: Indeed, like other countries, Germany is feeling the economic impact
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  Speaker 1: of the war, particularly from those higher energy prices you mentioned.
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  Speaker 1: What did the Chancellor have to say about that, Well.
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  Speaker 3: He basically pointed at the action that the government is
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  Speaker 3: panning on taking. It's being decided in Parliament this week
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  Speaker 3: to have a closer eye on those price rises. We
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  Speaker 3: did hear that energy companies here in Germany had a
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  Speaker 3: disastrous meeting with politicians and political representatives really struggling to
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  Speaker 3: explain those stern price spikes which are seeing some of
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  Speaker 3: the highest prices at the gas station here in Germany
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  Speaker 3: in the whole of Europe. What we are unlikely to
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  Speaker 3: see is the government subsidizing energy. There's an experience in
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  Speaker 3: the past over the war with Ukraine, when the government
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  Speaker 3: did pour billions into so oftening the blow when it
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  Speaker 3: came to energy, and most of that money ended up
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  Speaker 3: being a profit for energy companies rather than softening the
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  Speaker 3: blow for consumers. And that's really the stretch, the real
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  Speaker 3: contradiction that the government is operating within.
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  Speaker 1: Nikaitla, I want to ask you about something else. Yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: the German President plant Pethtersteinmyer delivered a speech sharply criticizing
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  Speaker 1: President Trump for starting the war in Iran. Did the
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  Speaker 1: Chancellor Mounts offer a response to that.
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  Speaker 3: He didn't, because no MP asked him during an entire
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  Speaker 3: hour of question time. We've done as we're looking at
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  Speaker 3: each other somewhat in disbelief over that lack of a
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  Speaker 3: key question that everybody was asking themselves. We did hear
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  Speaker 3: from the parliamentary Conservative Parliamentary Group leader Jen Spahn yesterday
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  Speaker 3: and he did say that it was up to the
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  Speaker 3: government to define policy into to really have a position
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  Speaker 3: on that. Because it is also very easy to confuse
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  Speaker 3: the role of the German president with the German Chancellor.
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  Speaker 3: But it's important to note that the German President, while
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  Speaker 3: being the head of state, has a largely ceremonial role
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  Speaker 3: and is disconnected from the actual political positioning of Germany,
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  Speaker 3: that is the business of the German government led by
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  Speaker 3: Friedrich Maatz. He basically got away with without having to
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  Speaker 3: offer an answer on this question, but it does show
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  Speaker 3: a deep gulf in the public portrayal of the German
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  Speaker 3: position between the German president and the chancellor, and that
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  Speaker 3: really shouldn't be the case. The role of the German
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  Speaker 3: president is traditionally and constitutionally an apolitical one.
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  Speaker 1: German Chancellor Fudlich Mattz, of course, he's trying to lead
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  Speaker 1: Germany through a very difficult time. What Germany does as
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  Speaker 1: Europe's largest ECONO me and given his geographical position, is
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  Speaker 1: hugely important for the rest of Europe and potentially the world.
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  Speaker 1: What else did the Chancellor have to say today in
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  Speaker 1: that hour of answering questions that might be event restore
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  Speaker 1: our international viewer as Mikayla, Well.
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  Speaker 3: What was interesting that particularly ran there? He has shifted
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  Speaker 3: his position slightly. He went from describing a dilemma to
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  Speaker 3: now saying that, of course Germany would have to pull
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  Speaker 3: its weight when it comes to securing the Strait of
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  Speaker 3: Horror moves. He was asked about a fuel prices and said, well,
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  Speaker 3: that's the reason why we need to get this war
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  Speaker 3: ended as fast as possible. But he says all of
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  Speaker 3: this in the knowledge and the awareness in Parliament that
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  Speaker 3: he would need a mandate from the Parliament and it
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  Speaker 3: would have to be also under an international mandate. Germany
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  Speaker 3: cannot act Alan if it were to deploy ships or
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  Speaker 3: anything any kind of forces abroad, and that would be
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  Speaker 3: a hurdle to take. And I think that spat between
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  Speaker 3: the President, who who comes originally from the Social Democrats,
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  Speaker 3: who himself is a former foreign minister, and the sitting
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  Speaker 3: Chancellor highlights that this would not be a parliamentary walk
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  Speaker 3: in the park for Fillis Matz necessarily despite the fact
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  Speaker 3: of being in a coalition with the Social Democrats.
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  Speaker 1: Mikita, thank you very much. Our chief political editor, Mikita
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  Speaker 1: Kuifner