Germany's Steinmeier raises profile, targets Merkel

BERLIN, Aug 5 (Reuters) Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister, usually avoids ruffling feathers, but in the past month he has attacked US policy, criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel and publicly opined on domestic issues.

The change in behaviour is fuelling talk that the 51-year-old Social Democrat (SPD) may be positioning himself as a future SPD challenger to Merkel, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).

A relative unknown at the national level when he took up his post in November 2005, Steinmeier is now Germany's second most popular politician after Merkel and regularly ranks above his own party's leader, Kurt Beck.

In May the SPD, which rules in an awkward coalition with Merkel's CDU, appointed Steinmeier as one of three deputy chairmen to Beck in a shake-up designed to pull their poll ratings out of the doldrums before a 2009 election.

''Steinmeier is viewed by the public as someone with substance and experience and there are certainly signs that he is looking to spread his wings and get in position,'' said Hajo Funke, politics professor at Berlin's Free University.

The bespectacled lawyer was a top aide to former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder but has never run for office, and has a reputation as a matter-of-fact operator who shuns the limelight.

But since he was appointed deputy chairman, he has offered increasingly frank and sometimes controversial views on a range of subjects, while taking his first public swipes at Merkel.

Last week he attacked US plans to give military aid to Middle East allies, saying a buildup of arms was ''hardly the best solution to the unstable situation in the Middle East''.

Those views, like his sharp criticism of US plans to install parts of a missile shield in central Europe, accentuate the differences he has with Merkel and play well in his party.

DIVIDING LINES The SPD is trying to sharpen its profile on domestic issues and last month Steinmeier took a dig at Merkel for not speaking out against her interior minister's controversial new proposals on fighting terrorism.

Steinmeier is even speaking out on issues such as nuclear energy and climate change. He is set to boost his profile later this month when he visits California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss emissions trading schemes.

The minister seems to have shrugged off potentially damaging headlines earlier this year over charges that he helped delay the release of a German-born Turk from Guantanamo Bay, the US prison for terrorism suspects on Cuba.

Some analysts believe Steinmeier could give Merkel a good run in an election. This week's Infratest poll shows 70 per cent of Germans are happy with Steinmeier, 75 per cent with Merkel.

The foreign minister stands to build on that rating while Merkel's popularity could wane after hitting new heights during Germany's EU and Group of Eight presidencies, say pollsters.

But Steinmeier has a long way to go and much could change in the next 18 months when the SPD is expected to formally pick its candidate to fight the election.

''The SPD race is wide open,'' said Klaus-Peter Schoeppner, head of EMNID pollsters. ''Steinmeier is highly regarded but dealing with foreign affairs tends to help politicians and there are questions about his handling of domestic matters where Beck is probably stronger at the moment,'' Schoeppner said.

REUTERS RSA BST1704