German Foreign Minister Announced that Relations with the United States Are Complicated

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Heiko Maas commented on a possible partial withdrawal of the American contingent from Germany, the course of the presidential campaign and protests against racism in the United States. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas acknowledged difficulties in relations with the United States. He made a corresponding statement in an interview with the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, which was published on Sunday, June 7. The full version of the conversation was also published by the foreign ministry of Germany. "We are close partners in the trans-Atlantic alliance. However, it (the status of relations with Washington. - Ed.) is complicated," the minister emphasized. According to him, the bilateral interaction “has been further aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic” - in particular, this is due to the ban on entry into the United States from Europe from mid-March. This measure, however, is not responded with a mirror image. “We do not prohibit travel to the United States,” Maas said. German Foreign Minister on the possible partial withdrawal of US troops The German minister also commented on Washington’s possible plans for a partial withdrawal of US troops from the German territory. "If it comes to a partial withdrawal of American troops, we will take it into account," Maas said. "We value decades of cooperation with the US military. This is in the interests of our two countries," he added. Reuters reported on June 5, citing a high-ranking U.S. official, that the head of the White House ordered the Pentagon to reduce the number of US troops in Germany. According to the official, by September 9.5 thousand American soldiers and officers will be withdrawn from Germany. The publication Der Spiegel, in turn, reported that this number can reach 15 thousand troops. According to The Wall Street Journal, Robert O'Brien, US National Security Advisor, has already signed the order. US presidential campaign can further polarize America The head of the German Foreign Ministry separately dwelt on the situation with the US presidential election scheduled for November 3. He also touched on recent mass protests against racism and the position of US President Donald Trump in this regard. "We must be afraid that the election campaign will further polarize the United States. This does not bode well," the German minister warned. At the same time, Heiko Maas emphasized that he considers it wrong in the current "very tense situation" to threaten "further violence." On June 1, the head of the US administration Trump, in connection with the protests in the country after George Floyd's death, said he was ready to resort to the armed forces to suppress them, and later the National Guard was involved in pacifying the riots. Heiko Maas regarding attacks on journalists Maas recalled that "during the coverage of the protests, many journalists in the United States were harassed and attacked." Thus, in particular, the staff members of the Deutsche Welle media company fell under fire of the American police, when covering anti-racist rallies in Minneapolis. Trump called reporters "enemies of people and a lower form of life," the German Foreign Minister recalled. “This behavior is familiar to us from populists around the world. They are engaged in polarizing opinions regarding individual groups and are trying to mobilize their supporters in this way,” the head of the foreign ministry is convinced. “This is very dangerous,” he concluded.