On the other hand, the EU is willingly used as a scapegoat. Some find this a cheap way to distract from national problems, such as undesirable developments on the labour market, in social security systems or in debilitating bureaucracies. The world is less safe because of politicians such as Trump, Putin and Erdogan. Shouldn’t this make people think again?
Let me stress in this context that it is a pleasure to be meeting all of you today and to have this opportunity to improve our transatlantic relationships and to exchange views later on. 2  Current situation in Germany and Europe  As I mentioned, we have been living in the face of an extraordinary crisis for more than four years.