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În Bucharest, German foreign minister brands Trump’s EU policy ‘irritating’
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas again took aim at US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy in a speech on Monday, branding his policies towards Europe “irritating”, euractiv.com reports.
“Obviously it irritates us when President Trump describes Europe as an enemy of the USA in the same breath as Russia and China or calls NATO into question almost as a throwaway remark,” Maas told a gathering of Romanian diplomats in Bucharest.
“It seems absurd that we in the European Union have to worry about reacting to US tariffs that are justified on national security grounds,” Maas said, before going on to note that this “absurdity” may simply be the reflection of a new geo-political reality.
“‘America First’ was a wake-up call. Our answer to that must be: ‘Europe United!,” Maas said.
Last week the minister used an article in the Handelsblatt newspaper to call on Europe to consider a “new world order” more independent of the US, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to make clear that this was only Maas’s personal opinion.
In his speech on Monday, Maas called on the EU to develop a “common foreign and security policy worthy of the name”, as well as a “defence union”, and added that the principle of unanimity had too often led to the policy of the “lowest common denominator”.
“We must be able to find areas in which majority decisions are conceivable for all member states,” he said.
German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas, assisted by his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu , answered to journalists questions during a press conference that concluded the Annual Meeting of the Romanian Diplomacy 2018, held in Bucarest, Romania, 27 August 2018.
He expressed concern over “polarisation” evident in Romania over alleged government corruption and controversial judicial reforms.
Earlier this month more than 450 people were hurt, including 30 police, during clashes at anti-government protests.“It’s not the discussion as such that worries us, as that has to take place. It is the harshness of the debate, which has led to violent confrontations,” Maas said.
He called for a “compromise” to be found over judicial reform which would preserve the balance of powers while bringing together Romanian society.
"We are worried that just a confrontation about values has been leading for a year and a half, in Romania, to a polarization of politics and society. It is not the discussion that worries us because the discussions are indispensable in democracies, but rather the harshness of the dispute, which even culminated with violent confrontations. I am firmly convinced that a fair balance of the separation of legislative, executive and judiciary powers can be identified with regard to justice reform in Romania," Heiko Maas said at the annual meeting of the Romanian diplomacy, according to the official translation.
He said it was necessary to identify a "compromise" line that "can unite and coagulate society."
"With regard to strengthening the rule of law, identifying a middle way, I would like to offer you any possible support from the Federal Government. Internationally recognized experts can also be considered in such situations, such as the Commission Venice, they can be considered as honest intermediaries," Heiko Maas said.
"The voice of Europe in the world will only be respected when we are credible. Any double standards will be used immediately by the opponents of Europe. Europe has to put into practice the values it has written on the flag: democracy, the rule of law, the fundamental rights and freedom of the press. Each country is responsible for this. And because we all represent Europe outside, we will all be measured according to these standards. Romania understood this and chose to be the central theme of its own presidency (the EU Council Presidency, ed. n.). We will try to support you as much as possible," Heiko Maas said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs organizes, August 27-29 in Bucharest, the Annual Meeting of the Romanian diplomacy. The theme of this year's edition is "Diplomacy - a pillar of Centennial Romania." The special guest of the event is Germany's Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas.