Steinmeier doubts Trump's 'America first' plan

4/28/2016 11:58:47 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier gestures during a joint press conference with Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva (not seen) after their meeting at the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin Germany on April 27 2016. Mehmet Kaman - AA

BERLIN: Germany criticized on Thursday U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's “America first” foreign policy.

Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati in Berlin German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Trump’s foreign policy vision unveiled on Wednesday did not reflect an approach grasping new realities of a changing international security order.

Steinmeier warned against a return to “isolationism” and withdrawing the U.S. from the world.

“The conflicts of Iran Syria and Libya all have clearly shown us that we will continue to need a range of interested and engaged countries including the U.S. and also Russia to address these problems” he said.

In today’s multi-polar world there is need for the U.S. Russia and regional actors to come together in various settings and also include other interested parties while seeking solutions to the conflicts he said.

“No U.S. president can ignore the changing realities of the international security architecture. In this respect ‘America first’ is actually not an answer” he added.

Trump during an address in Washington Wednesday said he would always “put the interest of the American people and American security above all else.”

Steinmeier said while Trump’s speech did not provide much detail about his foreign policy visions some parts of it were in fact contradictory.

“On the one hand it states making America strong again. On the other hand it emphasizes withdrawal of America from the world. These two do not seem to fit together” he said.

“But of course that is a question which should be decided in the U.S.” he added.

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