Donald Trump’s “breach of values” that have underpinned nearly a century of peace on the European continent represent an “epochal break”, Germany’s president has warned in a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the international community had responded to the horrors of the Holocaust by introducing rules to stem nationalism, promote co-operation and create a world order underpinned by international law.
“All of this was never perfect, never undisputed,” he told the Bundestag on Thursday. “But the fact that the United States, which significantly shaped this order, is now turning away from it is a shock of an entirely new magnitude.”