Very disturbed and saddened by USA President Trump's insulting public remarks at NATO HQ in Brussels that "Germany is totally controlled by Russia" and that Germany is captive to Russia
Normally I do not make public posts or comments on sensitive matters like international security alliance issues. But here I am making an exception.
I am an Indian living in India who has lived in Brussels, Belgium for 15 months in the 1980s at which time it already was the NATO HQ. I have done work for German clients and have visited Germany for marketing purposes in the early 1990s (Cologne, Frankfurt). And I have changed planes at Frankfurt (without going out of the airport) many times as I was travelling to other places in Europe and USA from India and back. So in my international air travel days Frankfurt international airport was quite familiar to me.
What USA president Trump said ****publicly**** to NATO leader Stoltenberg is ****shocking****. He said "Germany is totally controlled by Russia" and that Germany is captive to Russia due to its (according to him) great dependence on Russia for oil.
Those sort of words have to be publicly said only if there is a lot of strong evidence which is backed by people who are recognized as knowledgeable.
He could have pushed Germany and demanded suitable changes on the oil deal with Russia but using economic arguments and dependence concerns and NOT used the words 'captive' and 'controlled' publicly!!! Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany under Soviet occupation. She would know what captivity and control mean and what freedom means!
As somebody who has had good times in Western Europe (lived in Belgium & Netherlands; visited Germany, Sweden and UK) in the 1980s and early 1990s, and had interactions with West Europeans over three decades, I am very disturbed by how Trump has publicly insulted Germany in NATO HQ in Brussels.
Everything does not boil down to trade and money. There is something called honour, especially when it comes to national honour. Today is a terribly sad day!
USA President Trump making such statements as a very aggressive way to get more money from rich European nations like Germany and reduce USA's trade deficit with Europe, I think, is going to hurt USA trade and relations with allies for years, perhaps decades to come. Even after Trump steps down from USA presidency, USA allies will be haunted by memories of Trump's very aggressive tactics including public insults of USA allies on TV, and wonder whether future USA presidents would also behave in a similar way.
It is one thing for Mr. Trump to use strong words in his USA domestic political arena. It is quite another when he uses strong words in international relations with other countries of the world. As a well wisher of the USA people (I have lived in the USA too, and have few relatives and many friends who live in the USA), I think it would be good if Mr. Trump refrains from using such aggressive and insulting language especially in public when referring to other countries in the world who are allies/friends of the USA.
Mr. Trump has put up part of his words said to Stoltenberg on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/videos/10161246356000725/, 2 min 20 secs.
Here is a CNN report on it: Trump: Germany is a 'captive of Russia', https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8U-i6FN6g, published by CNN, 13 min. 12 secs
In article, Merkel responds to Trump: 'I have witnessed' Germany under Soviet control, https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/11/politics/angela-merkel-east-germany-nato-trump/index.html, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have responded, "I wanted to say that, because of current events, I have witnessed this myself, that a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. And I am very happy that we are today unified in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany".
I am an Indian living in India who has lived in Brussels, Belgium for 15 months in the 1980s at which time it already was the NATO HQ. I have done work for German clients and have visited Germany for marketing purposes in the early 1990s (Cologne, Frankfurt). And I have changed planes at Frankfurt (without going out of the airport) many times as I was travelling to other places in Europe and USA from India and back. So in my international air travel days Frankfurt international airport was quite familiar to me.
What USA president Trump said ****publicly**** to NATO leader Stoltenberg is ****shocking****. He said "Germany is totally controlled by Russia" and that Germany is captive to Russia due to its (according to him) great dependence on Russia for oil.
Those sort of words have to be publicly said only if there is a lot of strong evidence which is backed by people who are recognized as knowledgeable.
He could have pushed Germany and demanded suitable changes on the oil deal with Russia but using economic arguments and dependence concerns and NOT used the words 'captive' and 'controlled' publicly!!! Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany under Soviet occupation. She would know what captivity and control mean and what freedom means!
As somebody who has had good times in Western Europe (lived in Belgium & Netherlands; visited Germany, Sweden and UK) in the 1980s and early 1990s, and had interactions with West Europeans over three decades, I am very disturbed by how Trump has publicly insulted Germany in NATO HQ in Brussels.
Everything does not boil down to trade and money. There is something called honour, especially when it comes to national honour. Today is a terribly sad day!
USA President Trump making such statements as a very aggressive way to get more money from rich European nations like Germany and reduce USA's trade deficit with Europe, I think, is going to hurt USA trade and relations with allies for years, perhaps decades to come. Even after Trump steps down from USA presidency, USA allies will be haunted by memories of Trump's very aggressive tactics including public insults of USA allies on TV, and wonder whether future USA presidents would also behave in a similar way.
It is one thing for Mr. Trump to use strong words in his USA domestic political arena. It is quite another when he uses strong words in international relations with other countries of the world. As a well wisher of the USA people (I have lived in the USA too, and have few relatives and many friends who live in the USA), I think it would be good if Mr. Trump refrains from using such aggressive and insulting language especially in public when referring to other countries in the world who are allies/friends of the USA.
Mr. Trump has put up part of his words said to Stoltenberg on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/videos/10161246356000725/, 2 min 20 secs.
Here is a CNN report on it: Trump: Germany is a 'captive of Russia', https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8U-i6FN6g, published by CNN, 13 min. 12 secs
In article, Merkel responds to Trump: 'I have witnessed' Germany under Soviet control, https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/11/politics/angela-merkel-east-germany-nato-trump/index.html, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have responded, "I wanted to say that, because of current events, I have witnessed this myself, that a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. And I am very happy that we are today unified in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany".
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