Biden heaps praise on Chancellor Merkel on her last visit to White House
ANGELA Merkel’s trip to Washington late on Thursday and early yesterday is likely to be her last as Germany’s head of state.
US President Biden praised Merkel’s “principled leadership” even as they discussed contentious issues.
Mrs Merkel’s meetings with Mr Biden were far friendlier than her testy encounters with Donald Trump.
At a White House news conference, Mr Biden praised Mrs Merkel for “strong, principled leadership” and for “never failing to defend human dignity.”
“Here is an exemplary life of groundbreaking service to Germany and, I might add, to the world,” Mr Biden said with Mrs Merkel at his side.
Despite Mr Biden’s plaudits for the German leader, there were contentious issues on the agenda when they sat down earlier for a private one-on-one meeting.
Among the toughest: the sharp split between the US and Germany over Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline that would run from Russia to Germany and that the US fears will give Moscow increased leverage over Europe.
Mr Biden said he raised concerns about the pipeline with Mrs Merkel and that the two leaders agreed to look for “practical measures” that could be taken to ensure energy is not used as a coercive tool against Ukraine or other allies.
Whilst the two leaders did not announce any breakthroughs on the pipeline, Mrs Merkel stressed the importance of Ukraine’s right to serve as a “transit country” for natural gas but also emphasised its right to territorial sovereignty “just as any other country in the world.”
A senior administration official, who briefed reporters ahead of the Biden-merkel meeting on the condition of anonymity, defended the White House’s decision to forgo imposing sanctions on German companies involved in building the pipeline, a move that sparked bipartisan criticism from lawmakers in Congress. Mr Biden’s advisers said the pipeline was nearly completed before he took office and it was too late now to stop it.
On another issue, there has been growing frustration in European capitals over the refusal of the US to lift its pandemic restrictions on travel from the bloc, even as Germany, France and other EU countries have seen Covid cases plummet amid the vaccine rollouts.
Mr Biden suggested a decision on the travel ban could be coming in a matter of days.
“It’s in the process now,” he said when pressed on the issue by a German reporter. “I’m waiting to hear from our Covid team as to when that should be done.”
Mrs Merkel said she raised the issue in her meeting with Mr Biden and noted the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus was a factor, saying it has been a challenge for both the US and Germany.
“It has to be a sustainable decision,” she said, adding that it would not be “sensible to have to take it back” once travel restrictions were lifted.
The two world leaders discussed a range of other issues, from climate change to the coronavirus pandemic to the withdrawal by the US and Nato forces from Afghanistan.
In the Oval Office at the start of their meeting, Mr Biden praised Mrs Merkel as “a great friend, a personal friend and a friend of the United States.”
Mrs Merkel stressed “how much I value friendship with the United States of America.”
She added: “We are more than aware of the contribution of America to a free and democratic Germany, so I am very much looking forward to deepening the relationship again.”
Johannes Timm, a senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, a think-tank in Berlin, said: “In part this is a farewell visit, in part she is signalling continuity and stability in the German-us relationship”.
After 16 years working with Mrs Merkel, many officials in Washington and elsewhere are wondering what course Germany might take after the next election. The long-time chancellor’s objective was to reassure them that there won’t be a huge shift, Mr Timm said.
Mrs Merkel began her visit at the Naval Observatory for a “working breakfast” with Kamala Harris, the first time the vice president has hosted a foreign leader at her residence.