Merkel vows Germany will have no role in Iraq

BRUSSELS/PARIS – New chancellor Angela Merkel, on a lightning tour to reassure EU partners of continuity in Germany’s foreign policy, on Wednesday pledged to maintain special ties with France and vowed to stay out of Iraq.

Merkel has said she wants better ties with the United States but she sent a clear signal to the European Union by choosing to visit Paris and then Brussels on her first full day as Germany’s leader. The conservative chancellor underscored her commitment to closer European integration and said the EU, after a string of setbacks on its stalled constitution and budget, needed to show it could take decisions and pursue economic reforms.”We no longer have ideological trench warfare to worry us,” the leader of Germany’s right-left “grand coalition” said.”So we will be looking for pragmatic solutions.”We need to focus on economic reform so that in a globalised world, we can be competitive, we can keep up,” she said.In Paris, where President Jacques Chirac greeted her with a kiss on the hand, Merkel told a joint news conference: “I am confident we will manage to develop our cordial relationship.”Chirac underlined the need for France and Germany to remain Europe’s engine at a time when it faces major challenges.”If we do not get on, the system becomes blocked and Europe is a bit like a car with a broken part,” he said.On a visit to NATO headquarters, Merkel said the US-led alliance should be the central forum for transatlantic political and security cooperation, but stuck to her anti-war predecessor Gerhard Schroeder’s line on Iraq.Asked whether Germany would join a NATO mission to train Iraqi military officers inside Iraq, she told reporters: “We made clear in the talks that we will continue not to take part in training inside Iraq, but that we will continue to conduct training in neighbouring countries.So there will be continuity with the previous policy.”A NATO diplomat said the United States had been under no illusion that Merkel’s “grand coalition” government would change policy on Iraq, but Washington expected her to be more cooperative and less confrontational than Schroeder had been.NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer thanked Merkel for what he called the signal her visit sent that the alliance “is the anchor for the transatlantic policy dialogue”.Merkel, the first woman chancellor and the first from the former communist east, was confirmed by parliament on Tuesday.She met European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the head of the European Parliament.She was due to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London yesterday.Merkel’s predecessors, Schroeder and Helmut Kohl, also began with visits to Paris.But by visiting the EU institutions on the same day, Merkel underlined the growing power of Brussels.She vowed to work for a quick deal on the long-term EU budget but declined to follow Schroeder in putting all the blame on Britain’s refusal to give up its annual rebate from EU coffers, saying it was one of several issues to be resolved.New Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier told reporters that France and Germany would evaluate jointly new budget proposals expected from the British presidency early next month and work together for an agreement in mid-December.Merkel and Chirac would meet again on December 8, just after Britain is expected to unveil its proposal, Steinmeier told ARD television news.It would mark a continuation of regular informal meetings on EU affairs, known as the Blaesheim process, launched by Schroeder and Chirac, he said.They would also meet in January.Merkel stressed her support for the EU’s constitution, in limbo since French and Dutch voters rejected it this year, saying the EU needed the stronger institutions and charter of fundamental rights contained in the document.The German parliament has ratified the constitution and she said she hoped the EU would find a way of bringing it into force after the pause for reflection, suggesting there could be progress under Germany’s EU presidency in 2007.- Nampa-ReutersThe conservative chancellor underscored her commitment to closer European integration and said the EU, after a string of setbacks on its stalled constitution and budget, needed to show it could take decisions and pursue economic reforms.”We no longer have ideological trench warfare to worry us,” the leader of Germany’s right-left “grand coalition” said.”So we will be looking for pragmatic solutions.”We need to focus on economic reform so that in a globalised world, we can be competitive, we can keep up,” she said.In Paris, where President Jacques Chirac greeted her with a kiss on the hand, Merkel told a joint news conference: “I am confident we will manage to develop our cordial relationship.”Chirac underlined the need for France and Germany to remain Europe’s engine at a time when it faces major challenges.”If we do not get on, the system becomes blocked and Europe is a bit like a car with a broken part,” he said.On a visit to NATO headquarters, Merkel said the US-led alliance should be the central forum for transatlantic political and security cooperation, but stuck to her anti-war predecessor Gerhard Schroeder’s line on Iraq.Asked whether Germany would join a NATO mission to train Iraqi military officers inside Iraq, she told reporters: “We made clear in the talks that we will continue not to take part in training inside Iraq, but that we will continue to conduct training in neighbouring countries.So there will be continuity with the previous policy.”A NATO diplomat said the United States had been under no illusion that Merkel’s “grand coalition” government would change policy on Iraq, but Washington expected her to be more cooperative and less confrontational than Schroeder had been.NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer thanked Merkel for what he called the signal her visit sent that the alliance “is the anchor for the transatlantic policy dialogue”.Merkel, the first woman chancellor and the first from the former communist east, was confirmed by parliament on Tuesday.She met European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the head of the European Parliament.She was due to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London yesterday.Merkel’s predecessors, Schroeder and Helmut Kohl, also began with visits to Paris.But by visiting the EU institutions on the same day, Merkel underlined the growing power of Brussels.She vowed to work for a quick deal on the long-term EU budget but declined to follow Schroeder in putting all the blame on Britain’s refusal to give up its annual rebate from EU coffers, saying it was one of several issues to be resolved.New Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier told reporters that France and Germany would evaluate jointly new budget proposals expected from the British presidency early next month and work together for an agreement in mid-December.Merkel and Chirac would meet again on December 8, just after Britain is expected to unveil its proposal, Steinmeier told ARD television news.It would mark a continuation of regular informal meetings on EU affairs, known as the Blaesheim process, launched by Schroeder and Chirac, he said.They would also meet in January.Merkel stressed her support for the EU’s constitution, in limbo since French and Dutch voters rejected it this year, saying the EU needed the stronger institutions and charter of fundamental rights contained in the document.The German parliament has ratified the constitution and she said she hoped the EU would find a way of bringing it into force after the pause for reflection, suggesting there could be progress under Germany’s EU presidency in 2007.- Nampa-Reuters