Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer: "Barack Obama went to Berlin to hand over to Angela Merkel"
Photo by Metropolico
On November 15th, Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer gave an interview to the French daily newspaper L’Opinion. She discussed Obama’s last trip to Europe, and especially the US-German relations under Obama, what it has achieved and failed to achieve. She sees Washington’s perception of Merkel as the last standing pillar of the liberal order in Europe as a distorted interpretation, especially since Merkel is not keen to take this responsibility on her own. She concluded that the future of the US-German relationship will be different under a Trump administration who clearly sees the UK as its closest, special ally. Germany along with France, will have to redefine their role and place in the transatlantic relationship under the Trump administration. German-American relations will remain particularly critical to maintain a strong transatlantic link and credibility vis-à-vis Russia.