John Vinocur, The Wall Street Journal (USA)
Mrs. Merkel’s aide’s careful avoidance of the Russian issue came a few days after Spiegel magazine reported the chancellor has decided to run for a fourth term in 2017. Her confidant’s blank space on Vladimir Putin’s belligerence looks like an attempt to ensure that great numbers of her security-focused electorate don’t start thinking the chancellor and Germany have a military problem.