The Guardian: Merkel Says EU Cannot Completely Rely on US and Britain Anymore

The United States as reliable partner is a campaign issue for other countries. “We Europeans truly have to take its fate into its own hands,” said Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel at campaign rally. The Guardian reported on Merkel’s comments: “Speaking after bruising meetings of Nato and the G7 group of wealthy nations last week, the German chancellor suggested the postwar western alliance had been badly undermined by the UK’s Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election as US president.” The United States and Britain have each taken abrupt turns toward protectionist policies. Trump criticizes European nations for not investing more in NATO, while Europe’s leaders are troubled by investigations into Russian interference with the US election and close and secretive ties between US officials and Russians. European leaders, in particular, take issue with Trump’s rejection of climate change as a global security challenge. Trump said he will make a decision this week on whether the United States withdraws from the Paris accord on climate change. Merkel described the accord, negotiated and approved by 195 nations in 2016, as a “central agreement for shaping globalisation.” Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron expressed more optimism about EU-US relations, and a US decision to stick with the accord could go a long way in reinforcing transatlantic trust. – YaleGlobal