German FM says Europe must stand up to US for own interests

FILE:  Sigmar Gabriel (Photo By Viet-Hoang Nguyen Benutzer: Viet2001 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)

BERLIN — Germany’s foreign minister says Europe needs to act more decisively to defend its values and interests, if necessary by standing up to the United States.

Sigmar Gabriel told a foreign policy conference in Berlin on Tuesday that “the global dominance of the United States is slowly becoming history” and it would be dangerous to allow a U.S. withdrawal to leave a vacuum on the world stage.

Gabriel says the U.S. will remain Europe’s closest ally, but that differences with Washington need to be addressed and red lines drawn.

Gabriel cited specifically U.S. sanctions against Russia that he said threatened European energy companies; the heightened risk of war if the Iran nuclear deal collapses; and the danger of inflaming the Middle East conflict if the U.S. recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.