German FM Refuses to ‘Hush Up’ EU-US Tensions as War of Words Heats Up

• German FM Refuses to ‘Hush Up’ EU-US Tensions as War of Words Heats Up
  by https://sputniknews.com/
  Ahead of the G7 summit in Canada, Heiko Maas has lambasted the US President and his administration over their recent political decisions, which harm Europe. His remarks came soon after France’s President Macron took aim at Trump, mentioning the possible isolation of the US.
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  German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who represents the Social Democrats in the government, has told the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung that there are differences between Berlin and Washington, and that his country “can not hush up.” He pointed at Donald Trump’s one-sided withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the Iran deal and imposing import tariffs on steel and aluminum, which Europe vigorously opposed, fearing negative consequences. According to Maas, the US president “consciously took into account the immediate impact on Europe, following his decisions.”
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  Maas specifically pointed at the pulling out from the Iran deal, saying it was particularly critical for international relations and reliability. “We were used to being able to rely on agreements, and this has changed fundamentally,” he told the media.
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  Maas stressed that Trump’s policy brings far-reaching changes, as he’s turned down the multilateral rules-of-play, pursuing American interests with one-sided actions.  Although the Foreign Minister assured that the US “remains our closest partner outside Europe,” he stated that the European Union should consider finding new partners.  The key principle in this mission would be to secure an “alliance with those who want to preserve the multilateral world order.” He pointed to Canada as well as countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia as potential partners.
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