“The longer Trump remains in office, the harder it will be to stand up to those in this country and elsewhere in Europe who have been arguing since the Vietnam war that we need to cut the cord with America the bully,” Ischinger told Reuters.
The chair of the Munich Security Conference also warned that forces calling for a rapprochement with Russia and China would be emboldened. With the title “America the Bully,” the state-run Russian news agency Sputnik reproduced Ischinger’s comment’s to Reuters.
The veteran diplomat and longtime advocate for strong Euro-Atlantic ties fears Washington’s retreat from multilateralism, including the threat to withdraw from the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Agreement has already eroded Washington’s appeal to Europe. According to a Pew Research Center survey published last year, only 35% of German view the Trump administration favourably.
Politically, Ischinger warns, the balance in Germany would tilt if Washington stepped in to disrupt the completion of the Nord Stream II, which creates a second energy link between Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea. At the same time, he urged the German government to increase defence spending by at least €10-to-15bn if Germany is to credibly demonstrate willingness to assume a greater responsibility in Europe.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/ischinger-warns-of-german-shift-towards-russia-and-china/