Europe can’t fully rely on allies: Merkel
WASHINGTON • German Chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated that Europe can no longer completely rely on its American and British allies, declaring that the continent’s destiny was in “our own hands.”
Her extraordinary comments followed meetings of European leaders and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with U.S. President Donald Trump at NATO and the G7 last week.
Merkel, speaking at an election campaign event in a Bavarian beer tent, said it had served as a wake-up call.
She said: “The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days.
“And so, all I can say is that we Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands.”
Referencing England’s Brexit, she said: “Of course we need to have friendly relations with the U.S., and with the U.K., and with other neighbours, including Russia.” But she added: “We have to fight for our own future ourselves, for our destiny as Europeans.”
Merkel wished French President Emmanuel Macron success, adding: “Where Germany can help, Germany will help, because Germany can only do well if Europe is doing well.”
It came as Macron called his high-profile handshake with Trump a “moment of truth” and compared the U.S. leader to Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Macron and Trump gripped hands so firmly when they met for the first time at the NATO summit in Brussels that their knuckles appeared to turn white and their jaws clench.
The newly elected French president said: “My handshake with him, it wasn’t innocent. One must show that you won’t make small concessions, even symbolic ones.”
Merkel was disappointed by Trump’s refusal at the G7 to recommit America to the Paris climate accord. After the summit, she called the climate talks “very difficult, if not to say, very unsatisfactory.”
Trump has vowed to make a decision on the Paris accord this week and has reportedly told confidants he is inclined to withdraw. If so, it would be a blow to the legacy of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and to European allies.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the G7 summit in Taormina, Italy, a success, even as Trump refused to join the other leaders on committing to implementing that Paris Agreement.
“The fact that Canada recognizes how important it is to move forward on both growing the economy and protecting the environment at the same time is something that resonated around the table,” Trudeau said Saturday.
“Obviously, any new administration or any new government is going to have its own approach or its own priorities,” he said. “I think the value of the G7 is that we do get to have honest and robust exchanges, talk about where we’re going and how we’re going to get there together.”
At the NATO summit, Trump told allies that they were not spending enough on defence. He also criticized Germany’s trade surplus and threatened to stop German exports of cars to the U.S. — even though more BMWs and Mercedes are made in the U.S. than sold there.
The G7 leaders agreed to keep the ban on protectionism that existed in previous statements, which was a win for the six that had been pushing Trump to come around to their view of free trade.
But that too came with a compromise — reached in the wee hours of the morning — to accommodate his stance on trade.
“We reiterate our commitment to keep our markets open and to fight protectionism, while standing firm against all unfair trade practices,” said the line in the joint communiqué, which was just six pages long.