German Vice-Chancellor: The relationship between Europe and the United States is disintegrating
German Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil warned on Wednesday that the relationship with the United States is on the verge of disintegration and that Europe is going through a phase in which questions about its constants are being raised in light of the geopolitical tensions raised by President Donald Trump.
Klingbeil, who also holds the finance portfolio, said during a speech at the German Economic Research Institute (DIW) in Berlin: “The transatlantic alliance is undergoing a much deeper transformation than we have been willing to acknowledge until now”.
The comments came days after French President Emmanuel Macron lamented that the United States was gradually abandoning its allies and ignoring international rules, speaking of a growing neo-colonial aggression in diplomatic relations.
“The United States is an established power, but its gradually abandoning some of its allies and ignoring the international rules that it was still promoting until recently,” the French president said.
“The performance of multilateral institutions is steadily declining, we live in a world of great powers that have a real desire to share the world among themselves,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron also expressed his rejection of the neo-colonialism of the great powers as well as defeatism in the face of recent developments in the world.
“We reject neocolonialism and neo-imperialism, but we also reject dependence and defeatism,” he said, adding, “What we have been able to achieve for France and Europe is moving in the right direction, more strategic independence, and less dependence on the United States and China”.
