Merkel still committed to strong ties with US: Spokesman

A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel has reiterated that the German leader is still very supportive of strong trans-Atlantic ties, saying her recent suggestion that the EU can no longer rely on the United States was merely meant to highlight differences on certain issues.

Steffen Seibert said Monday that Merkel’s comments after a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) in Italy a day earlier about the need for Europeans to stop relying on the US were only meant to draw attention to the fact that the European Union and the US were not on the same page in certain areas, but were still committed to protect strong relations.

"Precisely because they (relations) are so important, it's right to name differences honestly,” Seibert said, adding that Merkel was "a convinced trans-Atlanticist.”

The statement comes a day after Merkel warned EU members that they could no longer count on the US and Britain as reliable partners, adding that the G7 summit in Italy over the weekend proved that EU’s intimate bonds with the two countries were no longer tenable.  

“The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I've experienced that in the last few days,” Merkel said while addressing an election rally in Munich, southern Germany.

The German leader was clearly dejected by US President Donald Trump’s refusal to be part of a united front on a landmark climate deal reached in Paris in December 2015. She told reporters after the summit that a debate on the issue during the G7 summit “was very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory.” 

All other six members of the group said they would stick to the terms of the 2015 Paris Agreement but Trump said he would announce his position on the issue next week.

Merkel’s downgrading of trans-Atlantic relations, which was also influenced by Britain’s decision in June 2016 to leave the EU, reflected deepening rifts inside a traditional Western alliance. However, Seibert seemed to be cutting back on the criticism, saying Germany would continue to see the US as a major partner.

The spokesman described US-German relations as a “strong pillar of our foreign and security policy,” noting that "Germany will continue working to strengthen these relations.”

Beside differences on the issue of climate, Germany is also at odds with the new US administration over the way Trump has handled Berlin’s contribution to the budget of the NATO military alliance. Trump has also complained that Germany has been harming the US economy by refusing to reduce its large trade surplus.

This comes as Merkel seeks a fourth term in office in the elections in September. Her rivals have harshly slammed Washington’s policies under Trump, saying Merkel’s administration has miserably failed to stop Trump from humiliating Germany and other European countries. 

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