Steinmeier criticized in the summer interview ZDF Söder for the term "asylum tourism"

"There must be a" summer interview "on the crises," says ZDF journalist Bettina Schausten before meeting Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Schloss Bellevue. But first, the conversation begins in the second with a friendly chat. The first man in the state is looking forward to his park, the pond – and the only thing that threatens would be a hawk, which could be lost to nesting birds in the nest.

Citizens feel neglected

Why he did not interfere in the (eventually) ended conflict of the Union. "This is not the job of the Federal President," comments Steinmeier shortly. Bettina Schausten manages to calmly ask questions while resolutely implementing her questioning strategy. Has the Union's controversy not damaged the reputation of politics? She wants to know.

The federal president is a diplomat – yet he is very critical of this dispute. "You can not just wipe it off the table," he says. Also because "so many citizens have written to him as they have not done for years". He therefore calls for a "return to reason". It's very direct despite all the restraint. Because "citizens feel neglected."

Even if the unspeakable is declared

Even more clear is the federal president with regard to the current terminology. The word mentioned by Schausten "asylum tourism", raised by the CSU, also seems to mean Steinmeier, without specifically addressing it. "The limit of the word and the unspeakable threat to muddle," he criticizes. Digital media contributes to this. In the background of his official residence, there are lexical works of meter by inch on the shelf. The "axis of the will", as briefly put into play by the Austrian Federal Chancellor, he considers because of its historical importance for "no successful expression."

He continues unabashedly in his criticism formulated by state. Given that Europe is more affected than others by the US trade policy, it considers that it is "threatening to worry about ourselves first and foremost". One could also say the politics of the ego, but that would not be enough enough in the federal presidential election.

Finally, the federal president becomes the oracle of the World Cup

Remains to discuss the world champion. For Croats, the first man of the republic has "sympathy" for big games. But his tip, which wins the World Cup, is then very clear: England.

In video: Söder defends the controversial term "asylum tourism" – protest of the SPD