Foreign Minister Børge Brende travels to Berlin for political talks on Monday.
During his stay in Berlin, Brende will meet his German colleague Sigmar Gabriel and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Norbert Röttgen.
“Germany is one of our most important partners in Europe. I am looking forward to talks in Berlin about foreign and security policy issues and cooperation between Norway and Germany”, Brende says.
He points out that it is crucial that European countries cooperate more closely with the many challenges we face.
The agenda of the meetings includes brexit, Syria, the situation in the Middle East and the German Presidency of the G20. Where Norway will be a guest country.
Lack of confidence
German Prime Minister Angela Merkel returned from the G7 summit in Sicily on Sunday and made it clear that Europe now, with Brexit and Donald Trump as president in the United States, has to rely more on itself.
Although Europe will strive to have good relations with both the United Kingdom and the United States, Merkel says that the continent must now take its fate into its own hands.
“The time when we could fully trust each other is on our way out. I have understood that in the last few days”, she says.
Trump Refusal
The G7 summit ended with an unusual final statement after Trump refused to say whether the United States would continue to be affiliated with the Paris agreement, in extreme pressure from the other six Heads of State and Government.
Prior to the G7 meeting, Merkel also participated at the NATO Summit in Brussels where Trump again criticized the other members for not contributing their share and failed to say if the United States would still respect the NATO’s basic article on mutual assistance in the event of aggression.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
