Angela Merkel demanded that the EU play an independent and direct role in the face of Russian provocations

The European Union (EU) must assume an independent role, but complementary to that of the United States, in the dialogue with Russia to face the recent “provocations” from MoscowGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday.

“It is not enough for the US president to talk to the Russian president. I am delighted, but the European Union must also find the means to negotiate “ with Moscow, said the Chancellor in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

The 27 cannot afford to “react uncoordinatedly to Russian provocations”Merkel said in a government statement to the Bundestag ahead of the European Council meeting which begins this Thursday in Brussels.

The Chancellor hoped that the leaders of the EU work in favor of this coordinated response in Moscow because “it is only in this way that we will be able to counter” the activity of Russia against the interests of the 27.

Merkel held the meeting held this month in Geneva between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but insisted that the EU must maintain an independent dialogue with Moscow to defend its own interests.

The Chancellor addressed in her statement – in principle the last she will deliver to the lower house of the German Parliament since she will no longer be a candidate for re-election in the legislative elections of September 26 – other threats and external challenges of the EU, like relations with China and Turkey.

In the case of China, Merkel argued that the European Union should be able to present the international community with a different and “better” offer than Beijing’s, based on European “common values” and also argued that in her forthcoming G7 presidency , Germany also submit proposals in this regard.

Regarding Turkey, the German Chancellor reiterated that the EU had “serious differences” with this country, in particular as regards the protection of human rights, but was in favor of the continuation of the dialogue with Ankara, in particular in the field of the control of migratory movements.

Merkel insisted that the European Union must face decisively the reform of its asylum and reception policy for refugees and encouraged to work more closely with countries of origin and transit.

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, cited this Wednesday in Berlin the construction of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 as the main disagreement between his country and Germany.

At a press conference with His German counterpart, Heiko Maas, Blinken insisted that Washington feared Russia wanted to use the facility – which will transport Russian gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea – as an “instrument of coercion” against the Ukraine and other countries.

“We believe that the pipeline is a geopolitical project which threatens the energy security of Europe and compromises the security of Ukraine and other countries”, he claimed.

However, Blinken acknowledged that when the new US government came in, 90% of the project was already built and now Washington’s goal is to achieve “something positive” from a “legacy predicament.”

The United States and Germany seek to “produce very credible and concrete results” to ensure that Russia “cannot use” Nord Stream 2 as a “coercive instrument against Ukraine or any other country”.

(With information from the EFE)

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