For my part, in everything I do, I aim to strengthen democracy in Germany and beyond. The United States is also a strong democracy. As we are seeing in Poland, for example, and also in Hungary, it is important that we have counterweights in democratic systems, and I believe they are still strong in America.

We have shared those values, we continue to share those values and obviously, we will continue to cooperate with the new administration [of the U.S].

We cannot stand alone. With 80 million people in this world of today, you cannot, when you just stand on your own, achieve much even though you may be economically strong.

A good compromise is one where everybody makes a contribution.

If I may, to underline first of all that I am very much impressed that in spite of the very tough election campaign, this transition period in the United States of America follows democratic principles and is all about the American people. It's about the destiny of the American people.

We have freedom to demonstrate in Germany, but there is no place for incitement and insulting people who come to us from other countries.

Implementing parts of European constitution and leaving out others - without knowing where we're going - isn't an option. That would be detrimental to the overall balance, which is why we must embark on another comprehensive discussion of the issue once again. I would like to see Europe retain the idea of a constitution in the end, and I plan to campaign on its behalf.