Berlin, Jan. 21, 2025 – Robert Habeck, Germany’s Economy Minister on Tuesday warned Europe against becoming overly reliant on US energy and urged the region to stick together in response to the new Donald Trump administration.
Europe should “meet the Trump administration with an outstretched hand, but not have our hand cut off,” he said Tuesday at the Handelsblatt energy summit in Berlin, responding to the climate and energy directives Trump launched hours after taking office.
The European Union should define its own interests, said Habeck, who is the Green Party’s lead candidate for Germany’s upcoming Feb. 23 elections.
Habeck called it “a fatal signal to the world” that trump’s official acts as president was to withdraw the Paris Climate agreement which aims to keep a global temperature below 2c above pre-industrial times.
“That’s the beginning of historic failure,” he said.
Habeck also warned that Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on other nations will drive up inflation in the US and Europe and weaken the economy.
“We shouldn’t believe that what is happening there can be a model for us,” said Habeck, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor.
“While other countries across the world are considering ramping up US imports to placate the new administration, a stronger reliance on the US could mean ‘a form of blackmail that we had in Russia is being repeated,” said Habeck. (Bloomberg)
