To give an opinion on a country’s political affairs after having only spent a week in Germany is impossible (Germany won’t be leading the world. It barely looks beyond its own borders, 16 September). We Germans are still dealing with a great deal of shame from the second world war, which will always hold us back from a potential leadership role in the Trump era, or any leadership role for that matter. It is also not fair to say that Brexit is not talked about – the whole country is still in shock, as the EU has secured peace in Europe for a very long time. Britain is a huge trading partner, and Germans are acutely aware of the implications. But it is true to say that Germany has taken a holiday. A holiday from the big, negative changes in Europe that are to come.
Silvia Daley
Harrow, Middlesex
• With respect to the forthcoming German elections, Natalie Nougayrède is right to observe that contrary to many predictions, the 2015 refugee crisis has not upended the nation’s politics. But she is mistaken that, two years on, the country hardly seems to worry about the state of the world, or even wants to discuss it. Like many communities throughout Deutschland, my German wife’s village has bent over backwards to welcome its contingent of asylum seekers, showing them great warmth and humanity. But as the election approaches there is real angst. They are incandescent about the way in which Angela Merkel invited a million refugees into their country without asking them, and the Faustian pact made with Turkish president, Recep Erdoğan. They don’t have a racist bone in their bodies, but feel that their concerns about immigration and integration are not being addressed by the two main parties, CDU/CSU and SPD. Because Germany is a hostage to its history there is a democratic deficit in this election.
Stan Labovitch
Windsor, Berkshire
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