This is what the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel writes about Germany's first reaction to the US elections.
This is very understandable: the German elite in dreams sees Biden in the White House, smiling towards Berlin.
But about Donald Trump, you can hear news only in a negative connotation.
It is Joe Biden who is referred to in almost all comments as "possible president", "future president", "legitimate president" and the like.
There is a complete feeling that the German political Olympus does not so much want Joe Biden to win as he fears the current President Donald Trump.
The speaker of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Norbert Röttgen openly expresses his fears that American foreign policy will change even more under Trump.
“If the question of whether NATO is needed remains on the agenda for the next four years, then this will lead to fundamental changes in Europe,” - alluding to Trump's words about the US withdrawal from the alliance, he said in an interview with the German TV channel ZDF.
Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke even more categorically, who believes that the situation in America gives more and more grounds for Europe to think only of itself.
“We are talking about European sovereignty, if we are talking about the politics of the future,” the Vice-Chancellor commented on the first results of the US elections.
Relations between Germany, especially the Chancellor, with Donald Trump did not work out.
And not because the American president somehow did not particularly like the chancellor, but because Merkel all these years did not hide and does not hide her sympathy for the Democrats.
Republicans are traditionally regarded in Germany as hawks who think only of themselves.
This is especially true during the reign of Donald Trump.
The most striking example is the situation with the former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell.
Donald Trump, immediately after his first victory four years ago, decided to stab Angel Merkel for not hiding her sympathies for Hillary Clinton.
He appointed an ambassador to Berlin, but was in no hurry to send him to Germany.
For a whole year, the ambassador did not come to his residence in Berlin, resting at his villa in the United States.
The humiliated Germans shrugged their shoulders in surprise and asked: "Where is Trump's ambassador?"
Nothing has changed since his arrival.
Getting off the plane, the ambassador immediately began to distribute valuable instructions to the German government.
“While we, America, are guarding Germany's peaceful sleep, you are building Nord Stream 2 and buying gas from Russia,” Grenell put it in his first speech.
"The most diplomatic diplomat of all time," they called him in Germany, and relations between Berlin and Washington became more than cool.
It is not surprising that on the banks of the Spree, Joe Biden's victory was expected and awaited with such passion.
“This is why we now have the opportunity to make Europe strong,” said Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a meeting with his colleagues in the European Union.
In a state of panic stupor, the chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany, Christian Linder, commented on the words of Donald Trump about his victory.
“This is not just a critical, but a disastrous situation,” he said immediately after receiving the first results of the US elections.
Although what is there to be surprised?
It would be surprising if the German Democrats were happy with the Republican victory.
For them, Biden is exactly the president who will hold on to Europe and keep Europe on a short leash.
They did not like Trump's policy, which required Europeans to think with their own heads, to pay from their own wallet.
Therefore, German politicians groan at the mere thought that Donald Trump could lead America for the next four years.
Christian Linder continues: “This is creating a situation in which the United States will be unable to act together in the international arena.
We - Europe - will be on our own. "
This is the answer to all the questions: the Europeans have forgotten, the Germans have forgotten what it means to think with their own heads and make decisions on their own, without looking across the ocean.
Of course, these expectations do not mean that Europe will suddenly gain independence.
Nothing will change even if Biden comes to power.
Of course, he will talk more about Europe, the only question is what he will talk about.
There is no doubt that, for example, Germany's financial claims in terms of increasing NATO's defense budget will remain and Nord Stream will definitely be in the sphere of US interests as a harmful project.
And in solving other issues, for example, economic cooperation with China, it will be very difficult for Europeans to turn around under any US president.
The numbers that come from overseas are frantically reprinted by the German media, expecting Trump to become a thing of the past.
However, history shows that not all expectations come true.
Rather, on the contrary, something comes that you don't expect.
Perhaps that is why, literally on the eve of the elections, the German media cautiously wrote that consultations were being held in the Bundestag behind closed doors about the possibility of postponing the elections to the German parliament from the fall of 2021 to the fall of 2022 or even to 2023.
The official reason is the inability to ensure the full expression of the will of citizens due to the pandemic.
In this case, the powers of the current parliament and, of course, the government will be automatically extended.
Consequently, Chancellor Merkel and her government, who have found a kind of middle ground in relations with the United States, will be able to interact with both Joe Biden and Donald Trump if he stays for another four years.
True, this golden mean looks rather comical: Germany asks, and the USA does ...
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.