Following his short visit to Afghanistan, Iraq and other Middle East countries, US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made stops in Germany, France and the United Kingdom from July 24 to 26.
Obama arrived in Germany on the 24th and met with the German Chancellor and Foreign Minister. He also delivered a keynote speech before the "victory column" in the German capital, Berlin. The public believes that his activities in Germany have diplomatic implications: compared with current US President George W. Bush, Obama has paid more attention to cooperation between Europe and the United States and stressed that Europe should share more responsibility with the United States in responding to the challenges of the contemporary world.
During the meeting between Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a German official expressed that the two sides had a "frank and in-depth" exchange on a number of issues. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, after the meeting with Obama, that he explained Germany's policy on military operations in Afghanistan to the American side and believed that there was no fundamental difference between the two nations' policies; and the two sides were in agreement on major foreign policies. But Obama revealed more in his speech. He listed today's main global concerns, and said that no country alone has the ability to overcome these challenges, no matter how powerful it is. For a period of time, Europe and the United States had been going their separate ways and forgotten their "common destiny," said Obama. Now, Europe and the United States should restore the trust and remove the "wall" in between the two. This obviously refers to the "traditional European" countries who oppose the United States in the Iraq war. Then, Obama changed the subject by saying, "True partnership requires long-lasting effort and sacrifice" and "needs all sides to share the responsi
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