President Bush will be spending Thursday and Friday with Angela Merkel in her parliamentary district in former East Germany. His visit has caused some controversy over cost issues between the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the German federal government. Ensuring adequate security for the visit is extremely expensive and the state government doesn't want to foot the bill by itself. But Bush has also been criticized for his foreign policy by some of the region's leading politicians. Some of them will even be participating in anti-Bush demonstrations on Thursday.

This Wednesday's German papers treat the visit as an opportunity to reflect on recent changes both in President Bush's political behavior and in the relationship between the United States and Germany. Some concern is expressed over the criticism of Bush that has come from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The commentators disagree as to whether such criticism strikes a nerve in the Untied States; some feel that its only significant effect will be to embarrass Merkel, and Germany more generally.

An editorial in the conservative daily Die Welt opens by contrasting Bush's visit with the World Cup that has just ended. If the World Cup saw a friendly Germany "hosting the world," then this week's presidential visit sees "the most powerful man in the world being hosted by an enemy," the commentator writes with reference to the anti-Bush demonstrations that will be taking place Thursday and Friday. Bush's visit is likely to turn into "a feast of easygoing anti-Americanism" complete with its own "hate mile," according to the commentator. Does this mean that the freedom to demonstrate in public should be curbed? No: "Whoever wants to demonstrate can go ahead and do so. But it is a little disturbing that all the references to freedom of opinion are being made in the context of local politicians engaging in narrow-minded slander with an eye to the upcoming regional elections." In the end, the commentator argues, there is something absurd about Bush being invited by Merkel only to face hostile demonstrators: "You don't have to like Bush -- but you shouldn't insult him either, once you've invited him to your home."

Center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung takes a broader view of the visit's political significance, analyzing the general changes in the perception of Bush's policies not just in Germany, but also in the USA. "George W. Bush will never be a popular president again," the commentator writes, citing the current situation in Iraq as the main reason. As for the widespread hostility to Bush in Germany, the commentator doesn't feel this is an example of anti-Americanism. True, "hardly a US president has been rejected as vehemently and by as large a majority of the German population. But this is little to do with the anti-Americanism that experts on trans-Atlantic relations are observing." The commentator argues that Germans are so critical of Bush because he "embodies" the war in Iraq, and with it an America very different from the one they continue to admire: "The antipathy towards Bush isn't directed against America, but against this specific president." After arguing that "hardly any country besides Canada and Great Britain" has been as profoundly influenced by US culture as Germany, and that the relationship between the USA and Germany has been a close and usually a friendly one for decades, the editorial makes one further point: Bush's visit to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is far less important for him than it is for Merkel. "The US president doesn't have to care about how often he sees the German chancellor," the commentator writes, adding that Bush is simply making a "courtesy call" on his way to the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg.

Left-wing daily Berliner Zeitung takes a twofold approach to Bush's visit on the editorial page of Wednesday's edition. In the corner of the page is a playful song titled "The Bush-Arrives-Song." It portrays the US President as jovial and somewhat unprofessional -- a slightly clownish character that cracks jokes between questions about the political background of his hosts and announces that he will be taking a nap on the flight to Europe: "Enough of jokes, I feel like getting / Some shut-eye. I'll hit the hay, / dream of Angela and hope / We get there soon."

At the center of the editorial page is a commentary piece that takes a more sober approach, focusing mainly on the political difficulties that Bush has been facing due to the protracted crisis in Iraq. The commentator begins by stating that "Bush is not a man who apologizes," but then qualifies this claim by saying that "since the beginning of his second term, the US president has revised his original attitude." Where Bush used to make "macho remarks about the determination of the USA," he is now calling for "patience" in his dealings with countries such as Iran, the commentator points out. The US president is characterized as having become "more realistic" and more willing to compromise: "He's understood that he has to make concessions when he wants something from the rest of the world, and he seems prepared to make those concessions." It follows from this development, the editorial suggests, that Bush should have begun to treasure his European allies -- in his dealings with Iran, for example. In those dealings, the commentator argues, "Bush misses no opportunity to emphasize that the USA and Europe are in agreement."