German Foreign Minister Steinmeier said that the election of Donald Trump as US President would make cooperation between Brussels and Washington more difficult. However, Dr. Alexander Gauland, the vice-chancellor of the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD), is sure that Brussels should "wait for concrete proposals" first.
"Trump has not said much about foreign policy. Yes, he hinted that Europeans should pay more to NATO. He also plans to get along with Putin and he has problems with the free trade. These are the things we know. Free trade is a problem for Germany too because we are an export nation. To get along with Putin is OK for me. And as for NATO, we have to wait for concrete proposals," Gauland said in an interview with Sputnik Germany.
Answering the question of how he perceives the outcome of the voting, he said that his attitude is "completely neutral".
"I do not like to interfere into the matters that do not concern me. The Americans have made their choice and we will see what the new President Trump will be doing. In any case, we should be concerned about the German interests," he said.
According to Gauland, the main factors that influenced the vote of Americans and urged them to vote for Trump are high levels of unemployment, deindustrialization and the fact that the great expectations set for Obama have not been fulfilled.
Moreover, there is a serious split between ordinary people and elites, which is true for all Western societies, Gauland said.
"Many Western elites tend not to ask the people's opinion anymore, saying "We do it already". Trump took advantage of this mood and achieved a success that many had not expected," the politician said.
Donald Trump's victory in the United States presidential election became a shock of global magnitude for many Western leaders and media. Many Western politicians cite Trump's "unpredictability" as their major concern.
