German leader hails Europe as an ‘alternative to imperialism and autocracy’

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed the European Union on Thursday as an “alternative to imperialism and autocracy” that can forge deals with like-minded partners in a world of increasing great power rivalry.

Merz underlined the continuing value of a NATO in which Europe will intensify its defense efforts, and said it will always seek cooperation with the United States — but not as a “subordinate.” He also joined other European leaders in pushing back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that troops from non-U.S. NATO countries avoided the front line during the war in Afghanistan.

Merz spoke to the German parliament about foreign policy a week after Trump withdrew a threat of new tariffs against Germany and seven other European countries to press for U.S. control over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally and EU member Denmark.

“We are seeing increasingly clearly in the last few weeks that a world of great powers is beginning to form,” Merz said. “A harsh wind is blowing in this world, and we will be feeling it for the foreseeable future.”

But that also opens opportunities for Europe, he said, as democracies with open and growing markets “seek what we have to offer them, namely partnerships on the basis of mutual respect, trust and reliability.”

“We should not underestimate how attractive this European model can be for new partners and new alliances,” Merz told lawmakers. “We are also a normative alternative to imperialism and autocracy in the world.”

He emphasized the value of unity in the sometimes fractious 27-nation EU, saying the bloc had shown last week that it could act fast. “We agreed that we would not be intimidated again by tariff threats,” he said.

But he said that Europe also needs to “learn the language of power politics” to assert itself in a changing world, for example by taking greater responsibility for its security, striving for greater “technological independence” and boosting its economic growth.

Merz is a strong backer of the EU making more trade deals, including one with South America’s Mercosur bloc and another struck this week with India.

While seeking new alliances, “it is also clear for us and for me that we should not carelessly jeopardize existing alliances,” Merz said, adding that “trans-Atlantic trust is a value in itself even today.”

He said that Europeans want to preserve NATO and make it stronger, and “we will always reach out the hand of cooperation to the United States of America.”

“At the same time, the basis of this guiding principle remains … as democracies, we are partners and allies and not subordinates,” he added.

Merz noted that 59 German troops died in Afghanistan during the country’s nearly 20-year deployment in Afghanistan, and well over 100 were wounded.

He did not directly reference an interview by Trump last week when the president said he wasn’t sure the other 31 nations in NATO would be there to support the United States if and when requested and that troops from those countries stayed “a little off the front lines” in Afghanistan.

Merz said that “we will not allow this deployment, which we also performed in the interest of our ally, the United States of America, to be disparaged and demeaned today.”