德國前外長施泰因邁爾當選總統(tǒng)

Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected as Germany’s new president yesterday, marking a big victory for the centre-left Social Democrats ahead of critical parliamentary elections later this year.

弗蘭克-瓦爾特•施泰因邁爾(Frank-Walter Steinmeier)昨日當選德國新總統(tǒng)，標志著中間偏左的社民黨(SPD)在今年晚些時候關鍵的議會選舉之前取得一大勝利。

The choice of the country’s former foreign minister, a top SPD figure, to the largely ceremonial post comes at a time of renewed optimism in the party’s ranks following the appointment of Martin Schulz, former president of the European Parliament, as its new leader.

德國前外長、社民黨頭面人物當選基本上是象征性的聯(lián)邦總統(tǒng)之際，社民黨內(nèi)部洋溢著新的樂觀情緒，此前歐洲議會(Martin Schulz)前議長馬丁•舒爾茨(Martin Schulz)被任命為該黨的新黨魁。

Polls suggest Mr Schulz could give Angela Merkel, long the dominant force in German politics, a real run for her money as she seeks a fourth term as chancellor. An Emnid survey in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper has the SPD on 32 per cent — its best result in 10 years — and Mr Schulz on 46 per cent. That puts him six percentage points ahead of Ms Merkel.

民意調(diào)查似乎表明，舒爾茨可能對德國政壇長期的主導力量、正在尋求第四個總理任期的安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)構成真正的威脅。《周日圖片報》(Bild am Sonntag)發(fā)表的Emnid民調(diào)顯示，社民黨的支持率為32%(這是該黨10年來最好結果)，而舒爾茨個人的支持率達到46%，比默克爾領先6個百分點。

Mr Steinmeier, who was elected by members of the federal assembly, won 931 of 1,239 valid votes cast.

德國總統(tǒng)由聯(lián)邦大會選舉產(chǎn)生，施泰因邁爾贏得了1239張有效選票中的931票。

Germany was going through “stormy times” of great uncertainty, he said. “To many, the world . . . seems out of joint.” But, he added, the more the foundations of western democracy shook, “the more tightly we must hold on to them”.

他表示，德國正在經(jīng)歷充滿巨大不確定性的“動蕩時期”。“對很多人來說，世界……似乎亂套了。”但是，他補充說，西方民主制度的根基越是受到撼動，“我們就必須越是緊緊地抓住它們”。

“Isn’t it wonderful that this country has become an anchor of hope for many people in this world?” he said. Germany had shown how things could get better — “how after war can come peace, and after separation, reconciliation”.

“這個國家成為世界上眾多人士的希望所在，這難道不是一個美妙之處嗎?”他說。德國早已展示了事情如何能夠變得更好——“戰(zhàn)爭之后能夠迎來和平，分離之后能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)和解”。

Mr Steinmeier’s election marks something of a tactical defeat for Ms Merkel, who reluctantly backed his nomination after failing to come up with her own candidate for the post.

施泰因邁爾的當選在某種意義上標志著默克爾的戰(zhàn)術失敗，此前她自己未能提出一個候選人，不情愿地支持施泰因邁爾獲得提名。

In the end, the former foreign minister won the support of all the government parties — the conservative CDU-CSU bloc and the SPD — as well as the opposition Greens and FDP. However, many conservatives resented having to support a Social Democrat for president, especially in an election year.

最終，這位前外長贏得了執(zhí)政聯(lián)盟所有政黨——保守派的基民盟/基社盟(CDU/CSU)集團和社民黨——以及反對黨綠黨(Greens)和自由民主黨(FDP)的支持。然而，許多保守派人士討厭不得不支持一個社民黨人出任總統(tǒng)，特別是在選舉年。

As 12th president of the postwar federal republic, Mr Steinmeier will have the task of unifying a society that has rarely been so polarised. The arrival of more than 1m refugees since 2015 has fuelled resentment towards the political establishment and boosted support for the rightwing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Britain’s impending exit from the EU and the election of Donald Trump as US president also present huge challenges to the German view of Europe and the world.

作為戰(zhàn)后聯(lián)邦共和國的第12任總統(tǒng)，施泰因邁爾的任務將是團結一個很少像現(xiàn)在這樣分化的社會。自2015年以來100多萬難民涌入國境，助燃了對政治當局的不滿，提振了右翼的德國新選擇黨(AfD)的人氣。英國即將退出歐盟，而唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)當選美國總統(tǒng)，也給德國對歐洲及世界的看法帶來巨大挑戰(zhàn)。

Yet Mr Steinmeier’s rise to the presidency deprives the government of one of its most experienced diplomats. He played a critical role in negotiating the nuclear deal between Iran and the west and was a key mediator in the Ukraine conflict. While he and Ms Merkel are on good terms, he went against her by calling for a relaxation of sanctions imposed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea and criticising Nato “sabre-rattling” against Moscow.

然而，施泰因邁爾升任總統(tǒng)，使德國政府失去了最有經(jīng)驗的外交官之一。他曾在談判伊朗與西方的核協(xié)議中發(fā)揮了關鍵作用，并且是烏克蘭沖突的一個關鍵調(diào)解人。盡管他和默克爾關系不錯，但他曾和總理唱反調(diào)，要求放松在俄羅斯吞并克里米亞后對俄羅斯實施的制裁，還批評北約對莫斯科方面“炫耀武力”。