Will Obama speak at Brandenburg Gate?

A diplomatic row is simmering in Germany over whether Barack Obama should be given an honour normally only accorded US presidents when he visits Berlin on a whistle-stop European tour later this month. The Mayor of Berlin's office has indicated that Obama might be invited to give a symbolic speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate, whose chariot of victory overlooked the Berlin Wall and the celebrations that accompanied its fall in 1989.

But the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has made it clear that she does not wish the Democrat to be shown any favouritism over his Republican rival John McCain before the presidential election in November.

Obama currently enjoys a 61-point lead over McCain among Germans, according to a recent poll. If he is invited to speak in the square in front of the gate, he will be following in the footsteps of Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, who in 1987 famously invited the Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "Open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Although John F Kennedy visited the gate in June 1963 - when it was draped with curtains by the East Germans to prevent him glimpsing their side of the then divided city - he made his famous 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech elsewhere in West Berlin.

Merkel's office says Obama is welcome in Berlin, but no more or less than Senator McCain. But the decision to approve a Brandenburg Gate appearance is not hers: it lies with the local Berlin authorities. And on Tuesday a spokesman for the city's leftwing mayor, Klaus Wowereit, said: "The mayor would be delighted to have Mr Obama take advantage of speaking at the Brandenburg Gate to spread his message."

Obama will also visit London and Paris. According to the same popularity poll, he enjoys similar leads over McCain in both cities and crowds are expected to line the streets.

FIRST POSTED JULY 9, 2008