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Government spokesman Steffen Seibert
Photo: Christian Thiel / imago images / Christian Thiel
Nothing has yet been decided in the US presidential election.
In view of the uncertain result, the federal government does not want to comment on this for the time being.
"The federal government has confidence in the democratic tradition and in the constitutional institutions of the United States of America," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin.
As long as there is no end result, the government "follows everything carefully - but does not comment on the state of affairs".
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) brought his cabinet colleagues "up to date" with the situation in the USA in the morning session, Seibert said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is also following "things closely".
(By the way, you can read all developments in our live blog)
The Federal Foreign Office initially did not want to make a public assessment of the election in the USA.
"I think that the election in America of course has a meaning for Europe and will also have a transatlantic significance in the future," said a spokeswoman.
But she also did not want to comment on the partial results and the behavior of US President Donald Trump.
Politicians condemn Trump's actions
While votes are still being counted in some of the decisive US states, Donald Trump claimed victory in the election.
In a SPIEGEL live broadcast on the election, CDU politician Norbert Röttgen sharply condemned the incumbent president's actions.
In an interview with SPIEGEL, SPD politician Martin Schulz said that during his term in office, Trump "deliberately undermined the institutional structure of the United States of America" and "completely submitted to the Senate."
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a complete count of all votes in the USA.
"We should all jointly insist that democratic elections take place in full," he said.
"And that means they are over when all the votes are counted."
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