Merkel: EU can’t rely on UK or US

ANGELA Merkel last night declared Europe ‘must take its fate into its own hands’ because it can no longer rely on Britain and America following Brexit and the election of Donald Trump.

At a rally in a packed beer tent in Munich, the German Chancellor said: ‘ I have experienced this in the last few days.

‘And that is why I can only say that we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands – of course in friendship with the United States of America, in friendship with Great Britain and as good neighbours wherever that is possible also with other countries, even with Russia.

‘But we have to know that we must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans.’

Speaking at an event with a Bavarian sister party, Mrs Merkel added that forging even closer relations between Berlin and newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron was a pri- ority. The Chancellor had just returned from a G7 summit in Sicily on Friday and a Nato summit in Brussels on Thursday – both also attended by Theresa May and Mr Trump.

During an uncomfortable gathering to mark the opening of the military alliance’s new headquarters, the US President repeated his past criticism of Nato members for failing to meet its spending commitment of 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

Mr Trump also reportedly described German trade practices as ‘ bad, very bad’, in talks held in the Belgian capital, complaining that Europe’s largest economy sells too many cars to the US.

But despite the Trump administration’s talk of an ‘America first’ policy and ongoing criticism of Germany for its massive trade surplus, the G7 leaders did vow to fight protectionism, reiterating ‘a commitment to keep our markets open’.

But while the other six G7 nations agreed to stick with their commitment to the 2015 Paris climate change agreement that aims to slow global warming, Mr Trump said he needed more time to decide if the US would abandon the accord. After the summit, Mrs Merkel called the climate talks ‘very difficult, if not to say, very unsatisfactory’.

Polls show Mrs Merkel’s centre-Right Christian Democratic Union, in power since 2005, on course for a fourth term ahead of September’s parliamentary vote.