Germany's new foreign minister is calling for action on nuclear disarmament with an eye toward removing U.S. weapons stationed in Germany.
After speaking with U.S. lawmakers, Guido Westerwelle pointedly urged the Obama administration Thursday to back its call for a nuclear free world with rapid steps. The comments came on his first trip to Washington since being sworn into his new post a week ago.
Later, in a joint appearance with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Westerwelle also said that Clinton reassured him that the Obama administration had not pressured General Motors in its decision not to sell its European division, Opel. That decision has stirred anger in Germany, which had backed a deal for GM to sell a majority of its European operation to a group led by Canadian auto parts maker Magna.
Westerwelle demanded that GM protect jobs in Germany and pay back the euro1.5 billion ($2.2 billion) bridge loan the German government offered to keep Opel afloat, while GM sought a buyer.
"We are talking about funds here that have been provided by the German taxpayer and thus the German taxpayer wants that money to be paid back," Westerwelle said in German.
GM's decision was announced two days ago, just after the departure from Washington of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The uproar has forced the German foreign minister to focus on the domestic issue of protecting jobs at home during his first trip to Washington.
But Westerwelle also touched on a range of issues with Clinton, including Afghanistan, Iran and Middle East peace. On the sensitive issue of U.S. nuclear forces in Germany, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that Clinton and Westerwelle discussed the ongoing review of U.S. nuclear forces broadly but did not touch on the specifics of where weapons will be stationed.
The United States has not disclosed how many nuclear weapons it has in Germany, but analysts have estimated the number as about 20.
While campaigning in his country's recent election, Westerwelle said he wanted all nuclear weapons to be pulled out of Germany.
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Associated Press writer Michael Fischer contributed to this report.
