Germany wants to support the US in international crisis management. This has Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised during his visit to Berlin. Merkel said that "Germany wants to play an active role in solving these problems". She cited the conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria and Libya as well as in Ukraine as examples.
"We should be very proud of what we have achieved so far," said Pompeo. One should remind the world how strong the US and Germany are when the countries work together. He called Merkel a "great friend of the United States" and said: "Germany remains an enormously important partner for us."
The US Secretary of State had traveled to Berlin for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Already on Thursday he had visited the former inner-German border town Mödlareuth and Leipzig and exchanged views with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD).
Merkel praises ex-President Bush
Merkel said that these days are very moving for her because she lived and studied on the other side of the Iron Curtain. "We will never forget that the United States supported us on the way to German unity," said the Chancellor. Specifically, she emphasized the role of George Bush.
Pompeo, who was based in West Berlin in 1989, said he had not ventured to the other side of the wall at the time - until this visit he had not had a chance to see East Germany.
The US had registered positively that Secretary of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has spoken out to spend more money for the NATO. It is important that NATO remains a strong force for the good in the world. The question is whether Kramp-Karrenbauer can prevail in the coalition. The promise to spend two percent of the gross domestic product on defense was canceled at the behest of Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) from the mid-term review of the Grand Coalition.
