Germany’s vice chancellor warned Wednesday that ties between Europe and the United States are under serious strain, describing the transatlantic relationship as fracturing amid a period of profound geopolitical shifts.
Lars Klingbeil, who also serves as Germany’s finance minister, delivered the remarks in a speech in Berlin, saying the alliance that has long bound Europe and Washington is facing a “much more profound upheaval” than many had acknowledged. “The transatlantic relationship as we have known it is currently disintegrating,” he said.
Klingbeil, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party who is serving in a coalition government with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc, said recent diplomatic engagements had underscored his concern about widening differences. He noted that a visit to Washington this week with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul reinforced his view of deepening divisions.
The vice chancellor pointed to a string of actions by U.S. authorities that he said signaled a broader shift in Washington’s approach to global partners.
While claiming that Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro was a "dictator,” Klingbeil said U.S. military action there violated core principles of international law and should not be treated as an isolated case.
Klingbeil also referenced controversial moves by the Trump administration, including threats to seize Greenland and language in its national security strategy suggesting Europe is facing “civilisational erasure,” warning that such rhetoric further complicates relations. “We are currently living in the midst of a historic period of upheaval ... in which all the certainties we could rely on in Europe are under pressure,” he said.
Despite the tension, Klingbeil stressed that Germany and Europe remain committed to the principles of free trade and open markets. “That is no longer the case today,” he said, while adding that Europe must defend a rules-based economic order even if it must do so without firm backing from Washington.
