Chancellor Merkel Video: “We Need to Make Sure Our Ties Remain Close”
(© Press and Information Office of the Federal Government)
Chancellor Angela Merkel dedicated her weekly podcast on June 30, 2012, to German-US relations. Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Atlantik-Brücke association in Berlin, Chancellor Merkel spoke about the need to foster even more connections between Germans and Americans. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans work for German companies, for one. And a great many Germans work for American companies too. Of course, that helps us to get to know one another better. Young people in both countries also have very intensive contacts. And we’re keen to have very close political cooperation as well. We’re participating in a number of international operations. In Afghanistan, for example, American forces are collaborating very closely with the Bundeswehr. So there are definitely points of contact, but we need to make sure our ties remain close.”
The Chancellor, in the interview conducted by Sarah Reinheimer, a political scientist at the American Jewish Committee in Berlin, said that particularly on trade issues it is important to reduce barriers. “We could develop our economies even better and generate more growth as well as employment if we didn’t have so many barriers to trade. So I’m very pleased that we’re resuming the discussion on a free trade agreement also between Europe and the United States.”
Overall, German-US relations remain close. “As I see it ..., we cooperate politically very, very closely. We have a shared responsibility for this world of ours. We work hand in hand to advance human rights. So clearly transatlantic understanding, transatlantic friendship is a cornerstone of German foreign policy – and that’s how it will remain.”
