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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

German Foreign Minister Lashes Out At Trump: ‘Putting Peace In Europe At Risk’



FILE PHOTO: Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Sigmar Gabriel addresses an SPD party convention in Berlin, Germany, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
By Alex Pfeiffer
29 May 2017, 02:44 PM

Germany’s foreign minister joined Chancellor Angela Merkel in scolding President Trump, saying he is making the West “weaker.”

“Anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk,” Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, according to Agence France Presse.

These remarks came a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany can no longer rely on the U.S. “We Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands,” she said.

These comments by Merkel shocked American foreign policy experts.

“Merkel saying Europe cannot rely on others & needs to take matters into its own hands is a watershed-& what US has sought to avoid since WW2,” Richard Haas, president of the Council of Foreign Relations, said in a tweet.

The German foreign minister was more explicit than Merkel. “The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union,” he said. “The West has become smaller, at least it has become weaker.”

President Trump left Europe without committing to stay in the Paris climate change accord and with a condemnation of NATO nations who are not spending enough on defense.

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