German chancellor Angela Merkel, who is expected to step down in September after 16 years, has moved Germany into a Swiss-style foreign policy ''where they’re friends with everybody,'' an approach likely to continue when her replacement takes over, says former U.S. ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell.
''Merkel for 16 years has done a Germany first economic model,'' Grenell said Thursday during an appearance on Newsmax’s ''American Agenda.''
''They have a huge budget surplus. And they don't want to be western facing because it is, uh, problematic for them. If you're western facing, then you don't have a Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. If you're western facing, then you don't look the other way when China is having human rights abuses and you continue trading with them.
"Remember, the three German automakers are all inside China doing very well and (have) very lucrative contracts. And so, I would say that over 16 years, chancellor Merkel's tenure, and I like her very much as a person, but her tenure has really moved the Germans away from the Western alliance and more towards an EU/US alliance.''
Merkel visited the White House Thursday where she was expected to discuss the completion of the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline with President Joe Biden.
If completed, the undersea pipeline will stretch 764 miles from Russia to Germany. The unease surrounding the project stems from Moscow’s history of using the energy sector to gain leverage over its neighbors.
Merkel was also reportedly prepared to push the Biden administration on the EU climate proposal announced Wednesday.
Grenell said the Germans ''say one thing and do another."
''They’ve got massive amounts of coal plants. They’ve gotten rid of nuclear energy, which is the cleanest form of energy and now they’re going to be more dependent on coal, which is now why she is desperate to get the gas pipeline. But this is all just talk because again, the Germans have a surplus.
"They could fund a lot of these programs in Europe. But they don’t because they really want to make sure they always have a surplus. And so, .. it’s all talk that somehow, we’re going to be, you know, united, but let’s also remember that she has been overseeing the largest economy in Europe, the leader of Europe at a time when the EU shrunk. Because of her policies we have Brexit.
''The British decided they couldn't deal with the Europeans' immigration policy. The EU was demanding a more generous immigration policy that Angela Merkel was pushing. And because of that, because it was sloppy and there weren't follow-up mechanisms to figure out who was coming into the country, the British said we had enough, and they left,'' Grenell said.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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