Wadephul: transatlantic relations are undergoing dramatic changes
At the ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Federal Foreign Office being re-established, Germany’s Foreign Minister made a plea for greater European unity in view of the situation in the USA.
Berlin (dpa) – The German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul calls for greater European unity in view of profound policy changes in the US under President Donald Trump’s administration. “Transatlantic relations are undergoing dramatic changes,” Johann Wadephul said at an event in Berlin on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Federal Foreign Office being re-established after World War II on 15 March 1951. The Foreign Minister stated that the current threat to security in Europe was possibly the greatest the continent had faced in the past 75 years, and therefore had to be made “our top priority”.
At the same time, Johann Wadephul argued that we should never forget how it had been primarily the USA that had liberated Germany from the Nazi regime, had contributed to shaping the young Federal Republic and facilitated Germany’s reunification.
As part of his official speech, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a case for a modern approach to foreign policy, for military strength, diplomacy and European unity. He stated that a rules-based order was essential in a world characterised by uncertainty.
