德國(guó)前外長(zhǎng)施泰因邁爾當(dāng)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(dāng)選德國(guó)新總統(tǒng)，標(biāo)志著中間偏左的社民黨(SPD)在今年晚些時(shí)候關(guān)鍵的議會(huì)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(guó)前外長(zhǎng)、社民黨頭面人物當(dāng)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(huì)(Martin Schulz)前議長(zhǎng)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(duì)德國(guó)政壇長(zhǎng)期的主導(dǎo)力量、正在尋求第四個(gè)總理任期的安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)構(gòu)成真正的威脅?！吨苋?qǐng)D片報(bào)》(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(lái)最好結(jié)果)，而舒爾茨個(gè)人的支持率達(dá)到46%，比默克爾領(lǐng)先6個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。

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

德國(guó)總統(tǒng)由聯(lián)邦大會(huì)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(guó)正在經(jīng)歷充滿巨大不確定性的“動(dòng)蕩時(shí)期”。“對(duì)很多人來(lái)說(shuō)，世界……似乎亂套了。”但是，他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，西方民主制度的根基越是受到撼動(dòng)，“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(gè)國(guó)家成為世界上眾多人士的希望所在，這難道不是一個(gè)美妙之處嗎?”他說(shuō)。德國(guó)早已展示了事情如何能夠變得更好——“戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)之后能夠迎來(lái)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(dāng)選在某種意義上標(biāo)志著默克爾的戰(zhàn)術(shù)失敗，此前她自己未能提出一個(gè)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(zhǎng)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(tuán)和社民黨——以及反對(duì)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(gè)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(guó)的第12任總統(tǒng)，施泰因邁爾的任務(wù)將是團(tuán)結(jié)一個(gè)很少像現(xiàn)在這樣分化的社會(huì)。自2015年以來(lái)100多萬(wàn)難民涌入國(guó)境，助燃了對(duì)政治當(dāng)局的不滿，提振了右翼的德國(guó)新選擇黨(AfD)的人氣。英國(guó)即將退出歐盟，而唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)當(dāng)選美國(guó)總統(tǒng)，也給德國(guó)對(duì)歐洲及世界的看法帶來(lái)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(guó)政府失去了最有經(jīng)驗(yàn)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(guān)鍵作用，并且是烏克蘭沖突的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵調(diào)解人。盡管他和默克爾關(guān)系不錯(cuò)，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(duì)俄羅斯實(shí)施的制裁，還批評(píng)北約對(duì)莫斯科方面“炫耀武力”。