Good relations with Russia are in the interests of Germany, despite differences in politics, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
peaking at the congress of her party, the Christian Democratic Union, Merkel recalled that Germany will chair the EU Council next year.
“At this time, we are talking about Europe, a strong Germany and a strong Europe. Europe should act in the same way. For example, when we talk about security standards for 5G, I said today to the elected head of the European Commission Ursule von der Leyen that we should it’s unified to regulate in Europe, because it’s pointless to do it on the domestic market”, – Merkel said.
She noted that Germany “faces so many challenges and questions because the world faces serious problems, and the question of what place Europe should take is not resolved”.
“Who would have thought 10-20 years ago (not me at least) that a multilateral approach in international affairs would be in jeopardy, that we will have to fight for open and fair trade. Who would have thought that there would be disputes with Russia regarding violation of territorial integrity? Who would have thought that we would have such difficulties in negotiations with the United States too”, – the Chancellor continued.
She emphasized that in this connection the CDU needs to work “so that we, as Germany, contribute to the European Union, which stands for a multilateral approach in the world”.
“Of course, this is a struggle of values and interests. Our values are incompatible when we think about standing up for human rights in the world and, for example, in China, these days in Hong Kong. But our interests also lie in the fact that China is one of our most important trading partners. When we advocate good neighborly relations with Russia, it is in our interests, despite the difficulties”, – Merkel said.