- Title: Germany expects U.S. to stand by long-standing commitment to Europe-DefMin
- Date: 9th November 2016
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (NOVEMBER 9, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF GERMAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING (REICHSTAG) (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN DEFENCE MINISTER, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING: "For all of us it is clear that something will change, but many question marks remain open because Donald Trump has led an election campaign that was even separate from his party, and he has not surrounded himself with experts, people that we know and who look for contact with us and whose positions are more defined. So that is why many question marks remain open. Obviously the main question is: Will he go on with what he announced in the election campaign, and how will he do it? Because this is also a time when I would urge us, especially Germany, who are seen as the country with the greatest economic and political importance in Europe, to act as a bridge-builder, to take up contact, to find communications partners to be able to settle unanswered questions." GERMAN FLAG WAVING ON REICHSTAG BUILDING VISITORS INSIDE REICHSTAG DOME (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN DEFENCE MINISTER, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING: "For us it is very important to know where he stands regarding the Transatlantic Treaty. It has been a good tradition, where we know we stand together on mutual values and that we have the responsibility to defend these values globally and to stand up for them. We would like to anchor these mutual values, which are incredibly important in the friendship between Europe and the United States. So we need to clear statements as to his position on the Transatlantic friendship." BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN DEFENCE MINISTER, URSULA VON DER LEYEN, SAYING: "We have a broad, decade-long base of trust and friendship, and that is something I am building on and that we will continue to cultivate. That is, our expectation is that the Americans - and we have many American friends - will remain committed to these mutual values that we have and that our friendship will continue unabated." BUILDING WITH REUTERS LOGO VARIOUS OF VON DER LEYEN LEAVING
- Embargoed: 24th November 2016 11:50
- Keywords: US election Donald Trump German Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00157Q5H6V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Germany should act as a "bridge-builder" to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and help clear up unanswered questions about his views on conflicts in Iraq, Syria and U.S. ties to Europe, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday (November 9).
Von der Leyen, asked whether she feared that the United States under Trump could weaken its support for Europe or Germany in the face of a heightened threat from Russia, told Reuters that she expected Washington to stick to its long-standing commitment to transatlantic ties.
"Our expectation is that the American commitment to that friendship will continue unabated," she said. "My wish is that we find a common basis for understanding because the problems are big enough and we must tackle them together." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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