德国总统克勒因不当言论闪电辞职

爱思英语编者按：德国总统克勒5月31日突然宣布，鉴于他日前对德国在海外军事部署政策方面所作言论遭普遍批评，他将立即辞去总统职位。克勒5月21日突访阿富汗，他在接受采访时说，德国依赖出口，“有必要”展开海外军事行动，“以维护我们的利益，例如保卫自由贸易通道”。

Germany"s President Horst Koehler resigned on Monday after being criticised for appearing to link military deployments in Afghanistan with the country"s economic interests. 
 
Mr Koehler cited a week of criticism over a radio interview he gave following a visit to German troops in Afghanistan Photo: AP
His departure will add to the political woes of Angela Merkel. The German chancellor"s party suffered an embarrassing state election loss in May and has garnered its lowest ratings in four years following the euro debt crisis and the unpopular deployments to Afghanistan.

The resignation, effective immediately, came a year into Mr Koehler"s second term as the largely ceremonial head of state. Mrs Merkel"s centre-Right alliance installed the former International Monetary Fund boss as president in 2004, and his departure is a symbolic blow.

"It is a difficult situation for Merkel," said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin"s Free University. "It is not clear whether she will be able to push through her own candidate."

The president is chosen by a special assembly of lower-house lawmakers and representatives of Germany"s 16 states, in which the centre-Right is expected to have a majority. Mrs Merkel gave no hints on a possible successor. The post is supposed to be above the political fray, traditionally functioning as the nation"s moral voice.

Mr Koehler, a member of Merkel"s Christian Democrats, cited a week of criticism over a radio interview he gave following a visit to German troops in Afghanistan.

In that broadcast, he said for a country with Germany"s dependency on exports, military deployments could be "necessary ... in order to defend our interests, for example free trade routes." 更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

That was taken by many as relating to Germany"s unpopular mission in Afghanistan, although his office later said he was referring to anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia.

Germans are often uneasy about deployments abroad, given the country"s militaristic past, and the mission in Afghanistan makes many particularly uncomfortable.

Opposition politicians had urged Mr Koehler, 67, to take back the remarks and accused him of damaging public acceptance of German military missions abroad.