Merkel addresses trade and security threats at Munich conference

Record ID: 1395703

  • Title: Merkel addresses trade and security threats at Munich conference
  • Date: 16th February 2019
  • Summary: MUNICH, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 16, 2019) (REUTERS) ****WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER HEIKO MAAS AND JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER TARO KONO SHAKING HANDS VARIOUS OF MEETING OF MAAS WITH TARO KONO
  • Embargoed: 2nd March 2019 10:42
  • Keywords: Taro Kono Japan China Munich Security Conference cars Merkel Maas Nord Stream 2 Yang Jiechi Weber
  • Location: MUNICH, GERMANY
  • City: MUNICH, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003A1TYDZB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:German cars do not pose a security threat to the United States, Chancellor Angela Merkel told delegates at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday as she appealed for global cooperation on a range of issues from nuclear arms to world trade.
    "We are proud of our cars and so we should be," Merkel said, adding that many were built in the United States and exported to China. "If that is viewed as a security threat to the United States, then we are shocked," she told the Munich Security Conference to applause from the audience.
    Merkel also delivered a robust defence on Saturday of Germany's foreign trade relations and ties with Russia, urging global leaders meeting in Munich to work together to tackle the world's problems.
    Addressing an audience including Ivanka Trump, daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, Merkel defended plans for a new gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that he has criticised.
    Trump has accused Germany of being a "captive" of Russia due to its reliance on Russian energy, but Merkel argued: "If during the Cold War...we imported large amounts of Russian gas, I don't know why times should be so much worse today that we can say: Russia remains a partner."
    "Do we want to make Russia only dependent on China?" she asked. "Is that our European interest? I don't think so either."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register