July 16, 2006: A fitting description for President George W. Bush's one-day stopover in Germany en route to the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia might be the parable of Jesus about the householder who produces things "old and new" from his treasure. Bush's visit reflects a renewed German-American relationship at the highest level, but old perceptions about America's most unpopular president in Europe since World War II remain.

When Angela Merkel visited Washington earlier this year for the first time as German chancellor, she invited Bush to spend a day in her home district in the former East Germany before the G8 summit. Bush readily accepted, a confirmation of the different personal chemistry that exists between Bush and Merkel in contrast to the frosty relationship that the American leader had with Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schröder. Merkel's positive image in the U.S. administration has made it possible for her to publicly criticize the controversial prison camp at Guantánamo Naval Station in Cuba, something Gerhard Schröder never did.

Bush's good relationship with Merkel was readily evident on Wednesday and Thursday during his visit to Stralsund. Merkel hosted a barbecue dinner for her guest on Wednesday evening at the nearby Grand Hotel on the Baltic Sea, offering roasted wild boar as one of the main courses. President Bush seemed especially pleased with the choice of meat and invited Merkel to visit him on his ranch in Texas during her next trip to the United States. At the brief reception in Stralsund's town square on Thursday morning, Bush kissed Merkel on the cheek and pleased the 1,000 hand-picked guests by addressing them with "Guten Morgen".

There were observers questioned the wisdom of chancellor Merkel making herself a close ally of Bush. The "Thüringische Landeszeitung" put it this way: "Merkel has to be careful that her public image is not molded by too close proximity to Bush. We are reminded of her first respectable appearance in Washington when she did not avoid critical things like Guantánamo. George W. Bush is a 'lame duck', as the Americans say. That's why he needs international allies. Germany is in a strong position, but too close proximity can easily cloud political perception" (July 14, 2006).

While the Bush-Merkel relationship is definitely a new phase of German-American relations at the highest level, others aspects of the President's stopover were decidedly old. He arrived at a deserted Rostock airport on Wednesday evening, reflecting the heightened security. There were no spontaneous meetings with local Germans, since all areas of Bush's visit had been cordoned off, and the crowd of 1,000 Germans who greeted the President in Stralsund on Thursday morning were selected guests. A protest sign in the university town of Rostock where Air Force One landed suggested that a better place for the President's visit would have been the International Tribunal in The Hague. Although that opinion relects an extreme viewpoint, a majority of the German people continue to reject the Iraq war and the reasons given initially for America's invasion of the country. Bush's relationship with Merkel may be much better than the one between Bush and Schröder, but that doesn't change the fact the most Germans view the American President and his policies negatively.

Some wondered whether German taxpayers really needed to pay 2 million euros [2.5 million dollars] for a barbecue so Merkel and Bush could celebrate their relationship. 12,500 police officers, 26 patrol boots and 28 rubber rafts were used to secure the Stralsund area for the visit. A 10 mile section of the Baltic seacoast was closed, and 420 miles of public roads were closed, including routes that President Bush only flew over in his presidential helicopter – all in a thinly populated part of Germany. "A scandal" was how German CNN affiliate ntv described the extent and cost of the security provided for the visit.