Keep in mind, it's not automatically criminal. The insulted person must go to the effort of actually filing a lawsuit to have anything happen, and it's unlikely

Keep in mind, it's not automatically criminal. The insulted person must go to the effort of actually filing a lawsuit to have anything happen, and it's unlikely for that to happen over some random dude talking on the street. The only reason Böhmermann is getting any attention is because he did manage to make it on national TV with this. As for the questions: With or without the law, someone insulting a foreign dignitary on national TV can have serious diplomatic effects. It's just reality. As for the second question: In two parts: Insulting the country is not covered by the german law, only direct persons. Further, if Merkel were insulted by whatever a turkish citizen is saying and Turkey has a law allowing her to sue those, then she could do it. If there isn't such a law she'd need to find other ways to deal with her anger if she has any such.