Emmanuel Macron wants a stronger Europe, just as the chancellor and I do. I was impressed that the new president climbed onto the stage in front of the Louvre to the sound of the European anthem after his election victory. That was a very powerful symbol. It is very clear: Macron is our ally.

If we want to avoid a clash of cultures - and the jury is still out on whether we can - we'll have to make different cultures and religions compatible with the universal nature of human rights and tolerance. But I can promise you this: Anyone who calls me an infidel at the conference will be in for a fight.

During the centuries-long process of Reformation and Enlightenment, Christian churches had to accept some things they didn't like. Islam will have to do the same; otherwise it isn't part of Europe.

In the EU, we agree that the pressures causing migration must be reduced.

Many things can happen very quickly in times of crisis.

Europe has grown through crises. Each crisis also presents opportunities, and Europe has emerged stronger from each one. That is the way history unfolds. Europe is sometimes slow, and it reacts sluggishly, but it is capable of finding solutions.

The United States lived on borrowed money for too long, inflating its financial sector unnecessarily and neglecting its small and mid-sized industrial companies.