German Chancellor Angela Merkel, second from left, waits for the start of a concert with President Barack Obama, center, and First Lady Michelle Obama at an event on the sidelines of a NATO summit at the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany. To the right is British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with wife Sarah. (Photo by Remy de la Mauviniere / AP)
by Mark Silva
The bridge to somewhere:
As the leaders of Europe prepare to assemble with President Barack Obama at a NATO summit on Saturday, they will mark the meeting with a little ceremony on the Rhine River.
Obama will join German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other heads of state in Kehl, on the German side, and they will walk across the Passarelle Mimram, a pedestrian bridge crossing the bridge over the Rhine.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France will meet the leaders at the center of the bridge over the river Rhine.
The group will walk to Strasbourg, where they will attend a tribute to NATO military forces and attend a North Atlantic Council Summit Meeting, marking the 60th anniversary of the alliance, at the Palaiz de la Musique et Des Congres.
No word on whether First Ladies Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni will make the bridge walk, too.
(Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy pictured at Palais Rohan during the NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, their husbands in the foreground. Photo by Orban Thierry / Abaca Press / MCT)
Comments
Hey Mark:
Thanks for a ll the great photos of these events...my question: Is this your fun or do you get to site see as well like on other junkets?
Posted by: lochnessmonster | April 3, 2009 3:11 PM
The photo of the heads of state and their wives seated preparing for a concert.
Etiquette and proper conduct becoming to your country.
Merkel is proper
Blackie O has her legs apart, again.
Sarah Gordon is atrocious with her short skirt and large thighs.
Posted by: j dey | April 3, 2009 5:20 PM
Obama told a crowd of french and germans that america has been "diversive".
Was that when Americans lost their lives in Normandy?
Did Obama visit that grave site and see those white crosses?
Americans gave their lives to fight for and with england, france.
Americans aid countries when there are disasters. We send food, supplies, we go and assist.
And Obama is denigrating our country. Making fun of our country.
Vote this man out of office.
How insulting. Stick a knife in the back of America when he is in another country.
The ingrate.
Posted by: european talk | April 3, 2009 9:13 PM
Blackie O has her legs apart, again.
Sarah Gordon is atrocious with her short skirt and large thighs.
Posted by: j dey | April 3, 2009 5:20 PM
I understand the wish to allow free speech...........but if ever "over the top" in comments apply, it certainly applies to this scumbag.
Posted by: bill r. | April 3, 2009 9:32 PM
What you won't read in Obama's press releases or in The Swamp (if there's a difference between the two...):
the Times of London is calling Obama's trip a failure:
"Barack Obama made an impassioned plea to America's allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, warning that failure to do so would leave Europe vulnerable to more terrorist atrocities. But though he continued to dazzle Europeans on his debut international tour, the Continent's leaders turned their backs on the US President.
Gordon Brown was the only one to offer substantial help. He offered to send several hundred extra British soldiers to provide security during the August election, but even that fell short of the thousands of combat troops that the US was hoping to prise from the Prime Minister.
Just two other allies made firm offers of troops. Belgium offered to send 35 military trainers and Spain offered 12. Mr Obama's host, Nicolas Sarkozy, refused his request. ...
The presidential charm offensive failed to move fellow Nato countries. President Sarkozy told Mr Obama that France would not be sending reinforcements to bolster its existing force northeast of Kabul."
Europe's leaders are happy to humor American reporters. It costs nothing to tell us how charming they think Barack is. But what they actually do is based not on "charm" but on their own and their country's self-interest.
Posted by: Arthur Henning | April 4, 2009 8:57 AM