BERLIN:Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said Germany must "stand fast, argue,and fight for our own convictions" and assume greater responsibilities ata time when multilateralism is coming under intense pressure. In her New Year'saddress to Germans, Merkel said long-held certainties about internationalcooperation were being put to the test. Global challenges including climatechange, immigration and the fight against terrorism could not be solved by countriesgoing it alone, she warned.
"For our owninterests, we want to solve all these questions, and we can do that best whenwe also take into consideration the interests of others," she said in aspeech to be broadcast in full later yesterday. "That is the lesson fromtwo world wars of the last century," she said, warning however that"certainties about international cooperation is falling underpressure."
"In our owninterest, we must take on more responsibilities," she said. With an eye toGermany taking on a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in 2019 and2020, the leader of Europe's biggest economy said her country would push for"global solutions". She also pledged to raise spending forhumanitarian and development aid, as well as defense. Although Merkel did notname US President Donald Trump in her speech, she has on previous occasionsrejected his criticisms of multilateralism.
In his secondappearance before the UN's annual gathering in September, Trump told theGeneral Assembly that he and his administration "reject the ideology ofglobalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism". A week later,Merkel had warned Trump against "destroying" the UN. "I believethat destroying something without having developed something new is extremelydangerous," Merkel said at a regional election campaign event then.
Channel crossingplan
In other news,Britain and France have agreed to boost bilateral cooperation over a spike inmigrants trying to cross the Channel, the UK's Home Office said Sunday. In thecoming weeks, the two countries will increase surveillance patrols and focus onmeasures to dismantle trafficking gangs and improve awareness about the dangersof sea crossings in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
"The UK andFrance will build on our joint efforts to deter illegal migration -- protectingour borders and human life," said Britain's Home Office minister SajidJavid, after speaking on the phone with French counterpart Christophe Castaner.Attempts to cross the English Channel have been increasing since October, withauthorities on both sides struggling to stop them.
Javid, who haspreviously said the rise is being treated as a "major incident", hasfaced criticism from the opposition and from within his own party forresponding too slowly. "More than200 migrants have arrived on the Kent coast in small craft in the past twomonths. The scale of the problem is unprecedented," Charlie Elphicke, theMP for Dover on the southeast coast of England, told the Daily Mail.
A particularincrease in arrivals has been recorded over the Christmas period, with Britishauthorities finding 43 people in English waters on Christmas Day and December26. On Thursday, British border officials found 23 Iranians in three locationsin Kent on England's southeast coast, hours after French maritime authoritiesintercepted 11 migrants in a small boat near Sangatte. And on Sunday,authorities intercepted six Iranians near Kingsdown beach in Dover. - AFP