Obama tipped to give big speech in Germany July 29

Jul 6, 2008, 16:12 GMT

Berlin - Aides to Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for the US presidency, have proposed to the state of Berlin that he give an open-air speech at the Brandenburg Gate later this month, city sources said Sunday.

Obama-mania has already swept Germany and its media. He would likely attract a huge crowd. An opinion poll released Sunday showed 72 per cent of Germans prefer him to his Republican rival John McCain (11 per cent).

The sources in the city-state's government said the Obama tour office had asked municipal staff if the area round the gate, which is a public street that is often used for speeches, could be reserved on July 29.

A public festival was held on the street over the weekend to mark Friday's inauguration of the new US embassy in Berlin, which overlooks the Gate. Other speakers at the site in recent weeks have included the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The spot, once crossed by the Berlin Wall, is infused with history.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan as president of the United States stood nearby and appealed to the Soviet Union's last communist leader in Moscow: 'Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!'

The Wall went in 1989 and tourists now come from round the globe to make symbolic walks through the monumental gate.

The news weekly Der Spiegel said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had phoned Obama and pressed him to stage the speech in the heart of Berlin when he visits Europe later this month.

In its issue to appear Monday, the magazine said German government officials had arranged for an Obama campaign official to meet with the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, and discuss the idea.

Obama's staff have already announced that the senator is to visit Germany, France, Britain and Israel during the summer.

The German admiration for Obama was reported in the Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag, which commissioned Emnid pollsters to survey 501 Germans.

Asked what the next US president should do first, 34 per cent of respondents said he should beat world poverty and undernourishment.