German chancellor warns US is abandoning rules-based order

(MENAFN) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that the United States is moving away from a rules-based international framework, favoring policies driven by power and national interests, and called on Europe to assert itself in response.

“At present, our most important ally in the world – and that is still the United States of America – is turning away from a rules-based order,” Merz said during a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) event in Heddesheim.

Merz highlighted that US policy increasingly prioritizes “purely power- and interest-led politics” rather than adherence to international law. He warned that Europe cannot afford to “bury our heads in the sand” or try to survive by staying in a geopolitical corner, saying such a strategy would fail.

Speaking about trans-Atlantic relations under US President Donald Trump, the chancellor argued that criticism alone will not influence American policy. “But they (Americans) will not look at us if we make ourselves small, if we duck away, but they will only respect us if we have alliance partners in Europe who speak the same language as us,” he said.

Merz also touched on domestic priorities, stressing the importance of preserving Germany’s industrial base and noting that solutions to these challenges remain “in our hand.”

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