Merkel: "the era in which we could trust the US is over"
Germany and France raise the tone in their recent statements, following Trump's decision to abandon the nuclear pact with Iran. Berlin and Paris on Thursday called for containment of Israel and Iran to prevent an escalation in the region. "We know it's an extremely complicated situation," Merkel said; "It's really about deciding between war and peace".
The time of hugs and kisses ended. "There are conflicts at the gates of Europe. And the era in which we could trust the US is over." The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, attacked this Thursday in Aachen with unusual hardness against the US president, Donald Trump, and his decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran, which turns the Middle East into a hornet's nest. The French President Emmanuel Macron seconded that angry reaction: "Some powers have decided to break their word: we are facing great threats and Europe has a duty to maintain peace and stability in the region."
That’s the way reactions have come. Europe responds in its own way to the withdrawal of the US from the nuclear deal with Iran, which leaves the companies of the continent exposed to sanctions, has caused an escalation of oil prices and the worst being that it has set the Middle East on fire. The EU has been dealing at a diplomatic level for a few days to minimize the impact of that affront. But Germany and France on Thursday raised the tone of the escalation of statements: "Europe can no longer trust the US and must take its destiny in their own hands," said Chancellor Merkel in the delivery of the Charlemagne Prize to Macron. "We cannot let others [in reference to Washington] decide for us," the French president stressed.
The EU is waiting for Washington to offer some way out of the agreement with Iran to avoid greater evils, as it did in its day after torpedoing the trade pact with Canada and Mexico. But, as stated by El País, the honeymoon between the US and Europe, which has lasted 70 years, is coming to an end. Trump already made public his intentions in campaign, but the analysts hoped that everything remained in words against the Union to gain the elections. Big mistake.
Trump blew up the climate agreement in Paris, declared NATO obsolete, began a few weeks ago with protectionist threats and now gives the finishing touches to the breakdown of the agreement with Iran, which is a blow to European interests and especially a blow to the geopolitics and global security. Despite the successive visits of Merkel, Macron and other leaders, Trump has ended up fulfilling his threats in Iran, in a decision reminiscent of the pre-war chapters of Iraq, 15 years ago. The difference is that this time Washington does not seek complicity in Europe: both Merkel and Macron made it clear in Aachen that their sympathy with Trump is null in this matter, and that Europe must take the reins of its foreign because its historical ally has stopped being it. Let’s see where it all takes us.