BERLIN, December 5. /TASS/. European countries should not sacrifice their interests to stay in tune with Washington, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday.
"We cannot afford to wait for US decisions or to react to them," he said. "We must mold our position by ourselves and if necessary tell our partners where our solidarity ends. We must be ready to build strategic balance of interests instead of following the US’ policy."
As an example of US’ actions harmful to Europe’s interests, he cited Washington’s plans to impose sanctions on Russia as a step that might endanger stability of the European energy sector. "The United States plans to impose sanction that will cover the existing pipelines. It is a serious threat to our interests," he stressed.
"More to it, the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal will scale up the risks of a military conflict in our direct vicinity and will jeopardize our national security," the German top diplomat said.
Apart from that, he voiced criticism of Washington’s plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem. "There is evidence that the United States may, within days, recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city without agreeing this step with Europe. We all know what serious consequences it might entail," he said, adding that Berlin still insists that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must be settled by the parties involved.