German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Europe had found self-respect in standing up for a world based on rules and called for a stronger NATO within Europe while maintaining cooperation with the United States, Reuters reported.
Speaking to the German parliament, Merz also said that Europe could no longer be intimidated by tariffs. The chancellor’s speech highlighted how European leaders have become bolder after their standoff with US President Donald Trump over Greenland, international trade tensions and the nearly four-year war in Ukraine. Merz said that the formation of a world of great powers has been a matter of weeks, and that harsh winds are blowing now, the impact of which will be felt for a long time to come.
He added that rules-based action and trade have not disappeared: “More and more countries around the world are recognizing that
the current global reorganization also presents an opportunity for all actors who prefer rules to arbitrariness
and who see more advantages in free and fair trade than in the one-sided pursuit of sole self-interest.”
Merz’s speech followed weeks of tension when Trump announced his desire to acquire the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland under US control by any means. The German politician’s speech echoed French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The German Chancellor also mentioned Trump’s comments about Europeans avoiding the front lines in Afghanistan – he emphasized that 59 German soldiers died in Afghanistan over almost 20 years and more than a hundred were injured, including in combat situations, and that the Germans would not allow their role in providing assistance to the United States to be belittled.
Read also: Le Pen’s party in France – with a dual stance against the Kremlin