German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said during an election debate with the leaders of four political forces in Germany that the Donald Trump administration is undermining Western values, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
According to Habeck, who is a representative of the "Green" party, the Republican president's administration has launched an attack on shared Western values.
On the first day of the Munich Security Conference, in a speech to delegates, US Vice President J.D. Vance criticized German mainstream parties for their commitment not to cooperate with the far-right "Alternative for Germany" party. These words were criticized in Germany.
Now, during the election debate, Habeck said that what is happening to Europe again is that it is being abandoned by America.
During the election debate, Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his government's policy on migration, DPA adds. Scholz announced that his cabinet is doing everything within its power to limit illegal migration and will continue to do so.
Sholz's main opponent for the chancellorship - The conservative Friedrich Merz, who also took part in the debate, said in turn that the number of deportations of illegal migrants carried out by the government was too low and criticized the program for accepting refugees from Afghanistan.
But his words were criticized by Habeck, who called the Taliban a “terrorist regime“ with which Germany should not work.
Alternative for Germany“ leader Alice Weidel also participated in the debate, saying that Germany had lost control of its borders.
During his speech in Munich, J.D. Vance also criticized the Europeans for their migration policy. And then held a meeting with Weidel.
The debate between the four leaders took place just days after an Afghan migrant drove his car into protesters in Munich, killing two people. The attack put the issue of migration at the center of the German election campaign.
During the debate, the far right came under fire from Scholz, the DPA reported. He said Germany had learned its lessons from the Nazi past and could not cooperate with the far right. Stolz recalled that in a comment by the co-founder of the “Alternative for Germany“ the Nazi regime was defined as “a chicken“ in Germany's thousand-year history. During the debate, Weidel refused to criticize this statement and described her party as liberal and conservative. She added: “You can insult me as much as you want tonight. You are insulting millions of voters. The insults do not concern me at all. I represent these voters“ .
Merz, on the other hand, described Weidel's party as a radical, largely extremist right-wing party and promised that his conservatives would not cooperate with it in the next German parliament.
Another topic on which the four candidates for German chancellor clashed was the economy and energy, DPA notes.
Merz criticized the closure of German nuclear power plants and the supply chain law passed by Scholz's administration. Merz also said the country must emerge from recession, corporate taxes must be cut and the monstrous bureaucracy must be brought under control.
Habeck, who is also the economy minister, said Germany's strict rules on state borrowing must be eased.
Sholz reiterated his party's proposal to reduce the tax burden for 95 percent of taxpayers.
Weidel called for reducing energy prices by focusing on energy coming from nuclear power plants, coal and natural gas.
China regards Germany and the European Union as strategic partners and wants closer cooperation with them in the spirit of free trade and multilateralism, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a meeting on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
For his part, Scholz said Germany is willing to strengthen exchanges and dialogue at all levels with Beijing and deepen bilateral and multilateral strategic cooperation with China, the China Daily reported.
Wan told Scholz that China is willing to deepen "all-round cooperation" with Germany as part of positive bilateral efforts to maintain global peace and stability.
The Chinese foreign minister was in Germany, where he participated in the Munich Security Conference and held talks with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaia Kallas and his Spanish and French counterparts - José Manuel Álvarez Bueno and Jean-Noël Barrot.
Germany – Europe's largest economy, whose vast auto sector is dependent on China, voted against EU tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars in October last year.
Germany opposes protectionism and does not support trade wars, Scholz said, urging the EU and China to adopt a constructive approach to quickly and properly resolve frictions as soon as possible, including those related to electric cars, and jointly uphold the free trade system, the China Daily noted.
According to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang conveyed to Scholz that Beijing valued Germany's "rational and pragmatic" approach. regarding tariffs.
He said he hoped Berlin "would continue to play a constructive role in resolving trade disputes and other issues between China and the EU as soon as possible," the statement added.
Wang said high-level contacts between China and Germany are frequent, and bilateral pragmatic cooperation has maintained good momentum and yielded positive results, which meets the fundamental and long-term interests of the two peoples.
China is pleased that Germany plays an important role in the multipolar world, and is willing to deepen comprehensive cooperation with Germany to develop bilateral relations in a positive direction, safeguard world peace and stability, and ensure greater security in an increasingly turbulent world, the Chinese top diplomat added.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, Wang said, adding that the two countries should enhance their complementary advantages and to deepen pragmatic cooperation to jointly enter the next 50 years of even closer China-EU relations.
Wan and Scholz also discussed the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the Chinese diplomat indicating that Beijing and Europe share a common goal of making progress in talks to peacefully resolve the crisis.
“China is ready to maintain communication with Germany and other interested parties and continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace talks,“ Wang said.
During his visit to Germany, Wang also met with German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is the favorite in the February 23 parliamentary election to be the next German chancellor, according to the “China Daily“.