With Donald Trump’s electoral success, Germany’s role in the world is also changing. Several politicians agree on this. But they draw different conclusions.
Several German politicians are calling for a new role for Germany after Donald Trump’s likely victory in the US presidential election. The proposed reactions are wide-ranging: they range from a resignation of the federal government to a deal with the USA.
The former health minister Jens Spahn criticized the federal government for its previous dealings with Trump and his party. “The fact that the German federal government has no stable contacts with leading Republicans is now taking a bitter toll. The traffic light is not in a condition to deal with Donald Trump,” the CDU politician told t-online.
“Donald Trump’s choice of words, style and demeanor often irritate me. But moral attitudes and knee-jerk outrage don’t get us anywhere,” he explained. Nevertheless, one should not offend the “next president of our most important ally”.
After Trump’s election victory in 2016, Germany was once again left empty-handed. “One wonders: Who in this administration should actually be in talks in Washington?”
Foreign politician Norbert Röttgen (CDU) believes the federal government is not well prepared for a second term in office for Donald Trump. “She always said we’ll just wait and see,” Röttgen told t-online. “This can have dramatic consequences for security in Europe, because Trump does not share the American self-image that Europe’s security is an original interest of the USA.”
Because Trump is of the opinion that it is the responsibility of the Europeans to take care of the war in Europe. “Many people in the US share the view.” Röttgen assumes that Trump will stop supporting Ukraine. “If that happens, European security must become European. Anything else would be a capitulation to Putin.”
The federal government and other European governments must now make Europe’s security an absolute priority. “We have to put ourselves in a position to compensate for the US’s support for Ukraine if necessary,” said Röttgen. “A lot has been missed, but it’s not too late.”
Green Party leader Omid Nouripour sees Germany better prepared for Donald Trump’s election victory than in 2016. “We have significantly more channels of communication with the Trump camp and have done a lot more in Europe to prepare ourselves – in the areas of security, securing raw materials, digitalization and technology “, he told t-online. Given the great dependencies between the USA and Europe, it will now become clear whether the measures were sufficient.
But he also warned: “I believe that we still have to do a lot more, especially at the European level.” More security investments and European cooperation are now needed. “The times are very serious, we can all see that.”
Now everything will have to be done to maintain and expand aid to Ukraine. “But we must not create the illusion that we can compensate for the loss of American aid. Germany and the whole of Europe cannot do that,” demanded the outgoing party leader.
SPD foreign politician Michael Roth told t-online that Europe is now largely on its own in terms of security policy for the first time since the end of the Second World War. Nevertheless, “we will remain dependent on the USA for security policy for years to come.”
