tapmag

Soon to be inaugurated President-elect Barack Obama might make a comeback to Berlin, the German weekly Focus reports. And this time it might be nothing less than the Brandenburger Tor for Germany’s favorite US President since the days of JFK.

Obamas’s staff is planning a visit for the days following the NATO summit in early April. The President will be joined by his Secretary of the State, Hillary Clinton. Obama wants to thank the Berliners for their help during the election, the Focus assumes.

Back in July 2008, in the midst of the election, Obama drew a massive crowd to the Siegessäule, but did not deliver a particularly historic speech. The event will be remembered more for the passion he did spark with Berliners and maybe even for the provincial debate around the question where Obama will speak. His words were more directed at the television viewers and voters back home than at the 200,000 Berliners in front of him.

If he returns in April, there is no election holding him back on formulating a new understanding of transatlantic relations in the 21st century. Everything he might promise to the European public will be more than a campaign pledge; Obama’s word will carry the weight of his office. All that is a big if—it all depends on Obama’s intention to deliver more than a mere thank you note.