DW interview with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

DW (English)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warns of a 'deep threat' to Europe’s security. Merz outlines Europe's leverage, Africa's growing role, and speaks about his hopes that China could push Russia toward ending its war with Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00With me is German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, straight after the conclusion of the G20 here in Johannesburg.

00:07Chancellor Merz, you spent a lot of time during this first G20 on African soil speaking about Ukraine.

00:13A crisis meeting, we'll talk about the G20 just in a second.

00:16But can you first map out the magnitude of the threat that Europe is currently facing over its very security architecture

00:24when it comes to this 28-point plan on Ukraine?

00:27Well, we are aware of this 28-point plan since last Friday.

00:35I had a call with President Trump before I left the country.

00:40I told him that we could agree on some of them, but there are others we cannot agree.

00:46And I told him that we are full in line with Ukraine, that the sovereignty of this country must not be jeopardized.

00:56And so far, we are in the midst of very severe negotiations, which are taking place actually in Geneva.

01:05Our NSAs are there and talking with the American delegation, with the delegation from Ukraine.

01:13And we do not know what the outcome of these talks could be.

01:21At the very end of the day, the sovereignty of Ukraine may not be questioned.

01:26What does it mean for Europe?

01:27We are still suffering from – we are suffering almost four years now from this terrible war in Ukraine.

01:37It's a threat for all of us.

01:41We are seeing severe attacks on our infrastructure.

01:44We are seeing severe attacks on our cyber security.

01:47So, this is a deep threat for the entire political order of the European continent.

01:55And that's the reason why we are so engaged.

01:57And that's the reason why we are trying to bring this terrible war to an end.

02:01You keep warning that this simply cannot be done by Thursday.

02:04That's Thanksgiving in the United States.

02:06That's the deadline Donald Trump would like to see.

02:09You also indicated that you're making your own proposal a kind of smaller step.

02:15Can you just elaborate on that?

02:18I think that it's not achievable to have all the 28 points agreed until Thursday.

02:24So, we are trying to figure out which part of this plan could be achieved unanimously between the Europeans,

02:33the Americans and Ukraine on the one side and the Russians on the other side.

02:41This is something we are trying to figure out, which is extremely complicated.

02:45But we have to move forward.

02:47And we have to come to an end of this terrible war, as I said.

02:51And that's the reason why we are now trying to implement an intermediate step until Thursday.

02:59And I know that President Trump is really interested in having at least an intermediary result until Thursday.

03:07And that's what we are all trying to achieve.

03:10You say this cannot be done above the heads of the Europeans without agreement of the Europeans.

03:15But what leverage does Europe actually have?

03:17Well, there are so many elements in this plan which require the agreement of the European side.

03:24And I give you an example, the Russian assets, which are based in Brussels, cannot be paid out to the Americans.

03:36That is unthinkable.

03:38So, if this plan comes into reality, the support of the Europeans is definitely needed.

03:46And that's the reason why we are on the table.

03:48Now, the G20 presidency here made a point of stressing international law, humanitarian law, the rules-based international order,

03:56which is very unusual for G20, which is a business round in its final statement.

04:01Cyril Ramaphosa also stood up to the United States of having a statement overall.

04:07This is Africa with a lot of potential.

04:10What do the Africans get out of that kind of solidarity?

04:12This G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, marks a deep change in our international order in terms of Africa is on the table.

04:29And nobody is leaving this country today without the deep conviction that Africa has to play a much bigger role in the future.

04:39This is the fastest growing continent in the world with a young population, very interesting for business.

04:50But they are on the table.

04:52They are there and they will play a much bigger role than in the past.

04:56And just finally, what hopes do you have for China taming Russia over Ukraine?

05:02You just spoke to Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister.

05:05I had a very long meeting with the prime minister of China, preparing my visit to China in next year.

05:13China could play a role.

05:17China could put some more pressure on Russia to end this war.

05:21And that's part of my talks with the Chinese government and will be, if necessary, part of my talks with the Chinese president next year.

05:34But I very much hope that we will come at least to a ceasefire in this war before so that this will not overshadow our meeting next year.

05:45Chancellor Friedrich Merz, thank you very much.

05:51Chancellor Friedrich Merz, thank you very much.

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