Angela Merkel did the right thing. Her decision and the extraordinary willingness of the German people to take in refugees conveyed an image of Germany that is still having positive repercussions today. Unfortunately, people in Germany are no longer seeing that.

When it becomes serious, you have to lie.

Article 50 governs the exit from the European Union and here there can also be no renegotiation.

The problem is: When two governments or institutions in Europe hold differing opinions, it is immediately a crisis.

There can be no doubt that, with the United Kingdom, we will lose a very market-oriented voice.

In politics, there are different categories of friendship. My friendship with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, for example .

I have no doubt that the U.S., even under Trump, will stick to the mutual defense commitment in the NATO treaty in the event of an emergency. Trump described NATO as being obsolete during his election campaign, but he made clear afterward that he considers the alliance to be an indispensable necessity.