Berlin: The visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to the State of Qatar comes at a regional and international moment in which considerations of security and stability intersect with energy and economic interests. Among these is Berlin's effort to expand its partnerships in the Gulf region on the basis of mutual trust and a strategic partnership, as emphasized by the German Chancellor prior to the start of his Gulf tour.
According to Qatar News Agency, the German government affirmed that the objective of the Chancellor's visit is to strengthen and deepen partnerships with Gulf states, stressing that stability in the Middle East lies within Germany's national interest. Chancellor Merz said that the visit aims to build a strategic partnership, reinforce bilateral relations, and work jointly to promote peace and stability in the region.
The Doha visit is particularly important given the country sits at the intersection of issues that are key to Berlin. The most notable among them is energy security, economic and investment cooperation, and political dialogue on regional issues. The Jean Monnet Professor for European Studies at Stanford University in Berlin, Professor Ulli Brueckner, described Chancellor Merz's visit to Qatar as a strategic realignment at a time of global transformation.
In exclusive statements to Qatar News Agency, Brueckner said the visit comes amid a phase of profound global turbulence and multiple, intensive, and simultaneous strategic trajectories. He noted that these trajectories include an additional step by Germany toward risk reduction and diversification of partnerships, securing energy supplies, and strengthening diplomatic channels in crisis regions with support and assistance from the State of Qatar, alongside backing economic transformation through Qatari and Gulf investments.
He said the State of Qatar plays three important roles for Germany as an energy partner, an investor, and a diplomatic mediator in regional crises. He added that the German government was focused on the importance of energy security. He added that areas of cooperation also include trade and industrial policy through securing supply chains for critical raw materials, technology transfer, and building reciprocal investment partnerships, in addition to climate and science cooperation through the establishment of joint research centers focused on decarbonization in order to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
For her part, German researcher specializing in Middle-Eastern affairs Carmen Hans said that the German Chancellor arrived in the State of Qatar will deal with advancing bilateral cooperation. She pointed to Doha's policy of establishing new relationships or expanding existing ones, as long as the shared objective is to achieve mutual benefit for peoples.
She referred to the energy partnership agreement signed between the two countries in 2022 as an existing institutional framework for dialogue in the energy sector, making the Chancellor's visit a political opportunity to reaffirm continuity and expand cooperation, particularly in light of Germany's interest in securing and diversifying energy supplies. She added that the German Chancellor's visit to the State of Qatar could move cooperation in the fields of economy and investment from the stage of partnership declaration to a phase of more active implementation.
Regarding Qatari-German cooperation on security matters, the Middle East affairs researcher observed that Germany and the State of Qatar share an important common foundation centered on achieving stability. She noted that the unity of this principle, combined with Germany's strong interest in ensuring security calm in the Middle East, will facilitate the expansion of security and strategic cooperation between the two sides and may even lead to the identification of new areas of security partnership suited to the challenges of the current phase.