Saturday 7 November 2020

Trump vs Biden: Germany, France speak on US election

 


The German government has told the US President, Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to refrain from ‘pouring oil on the fire’ till results of election are determined.

Vote counting is still ongoing in about five battleground states, but the electoral college votes are tilting towards Biden.

However, Trump has raised alarm of electoral fraud and warned the Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden against making a “wrongful claim” to the seat of power.

Trump disclosed that he would soon commence legal proceedings with regards to the ongoing presidential election.

 Germany, reacting to the development asked both sides to end claim that the American election was fraudulent, adding that “decent losers” were vital to upholding democracy.

The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, urged the both sides to stop “pouring oil” on the tense situation in the US, adding it was irresponsible to aggravate tensions.

“America is more than a one-man show. Anyone who continues to pour oil on the fire in a situation like this is acting irresponsibly,” Maas told Germany’s Funke media.

According to him, “Now is the time to keep a cool head until an independently determined result is available.”

“In order for the result which has not yet been determined – to be accepted, everyone must first show restraint.

“Decent losers are more important for the functioning of a democracy than radiant winners.”

Maas added that “The world needs the USA as a force for order, not as a factor of chaos.”

He, however, expects that once the election result was settled, “the USA will probably not return to the international stage with full energy for the time being”

Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, on the other hand said he has faith in the US institutions validating the result, adding that even if Biden was elected, the US and the EU “will not return to the status that prevailed before, to a kind of good old days in the transatlantic relationship, the Guardian reports.”

He said: “The world has moved in four years. Europe is trying to become a power unto itself, instead of relying on US support.”

He described the US election as “a historic vote, in terms of the tension and the size of the turnout.”

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