{"id":552284,"date":"2026-01-29T19:57:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552284\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T19:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:57:15","slug":"german-leader-hails-europe-as-an-alternative-to-imperialism-and-autocracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552284\/","title":{"rendered":"German leader hails Europe as an &#8216;alternative to imperialism and autocracy&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BERLIN (AP) \u2014 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed the European Union on Thursday as an \u201calternative to imperialism and autocracy\u201d that can <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/india-eu-european-union-trade-deal-4d2b0333040d7f4d055a7dfe9d8484a3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">forge deals<\/a> with like-minded partners in a world of increasing great power rivalry.<\/p>\n<p>Merz underlined the continuing value of a NATO in which Europe will intensify its defense efforts, and said it will always seek cooperation with the United States \u2014 but not as a \u201csubordinate.\u201d He also joined <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-nato-uk-afghanistan-starmer-ab45d8f9e1265c95cb41aac7f494407a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">other European leaders<\/a> in pushing back against U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-nato-uk-afghanistan-denmark-greenland-f5975e87928696edf41085821f7d0b01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">assertion<\/a> that troops from non-U.S. NATO countries avoided the front line during the war in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Merz spoke to the German parliament about foreign policy a week after Trump withdrew a <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/denmark-greenland-trump-arctic-security-nato-d74c0ffcf1db904a2a9c3b2c5c5b8d03\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">threat of new tariffs<\/a> against Germany and seven other European countries to press for U.S. control <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/greenland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over Greenland<\/a>, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally and EU member Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are seeing increasingly clearly in the last few weeks that a world of great powers is beginning to form,\u201d Merz said. \u201cA harsh wind is blowing in this world, and we will be feeling it for the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But that also opens opportunities for Europe, he said, as democracies with open and growing markets \u201cseek what we have to offer them, namely partnerships on the basis of mutual respect, trust and reliability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should not underestimate how attractive this European model can be for new partners and new alliances,\u201d Merz told lawmakers. \u201cWe are also a normative alternative to imperialism and autocracy in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized the value of unity in the sometimes fractious 27-nation EU, saying the bloc had shown last week that it could act fast. \u201cWe agreed that we would not be intimidated again by tariff threats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>But he said that Europe also needs to \u201clearn the language of power politics\u201d to assert itself in a changing world, for example by taking greater responsibility for its security, striving for greater \u201ctechnological independence\u201d and boosting its economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>Merz is a strong backer of the EU making more trade deals, including one with South America\u2019s <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/mercosur-european-union-trade-agreement-south-america-b779460da4b7ecb6aa15d322976fa70d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercosur<\/a> bloc and another struck this week with <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/india-eu-modi-trade-wine-auto-74b8744b2ef562d2e820b238e6ce8d38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">India<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While seeking new alliances, \u201cit is also clear for us and for me that we should not carelessly jeopardize existing alliances,\u201d Merz said, adding that \u201ctrans-Atlantic trust is a value in itself even today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that Europeans want to preserve NATO and make it stronger, and \u201cwe will always reach out the hand of cooperation to the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the same time, the basis of this guiding principle remains &#8230; as democracies, we are partners and allies and not subordinates,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Merz noted that 59 German troops died in Afghanistan during the country\u2019s nearly 20-year deployment in Afghanistan, and well over 100 were wounded. <\/p>\n<p>He did not directly reference an interview by Trump last week when the president said he wasn\u2019t sure the other 31 nations in <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nato\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NATO<\/a> would be there to support the United States if and when requested and that troops from those countries stayed \u201ca little off the front lines\u201d in Afghanistan. <\/p>\n<p>Merz said that \u201cwe will not allow this deployment, which we also performed in the interest of our ally, the United States of America, to be disparaged and demeaned today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERLIN (AP) \u2014 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed the European Union on Thursday as an \u201calternative to imperialism&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":552285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7574,7838,69,16817,440,8697,25821,57,86,3464,6604,8959,50,8961,80,235115,96,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-552284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-afghanistan","9":"tag-diplomacy","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-eurocopa-2024","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-friedrich-merz","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-government-policy","17":"tag-international-agreements","18":"tag-international-news","19":"tag-nato","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-north-atlantic-treaty-organization","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-send-to-apple-news","24":"tag-war-and-unrest","25":"tag-world","26":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115980156574427061","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}