The former German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel has proposed offering Canada partial membership in the European Union.
“Maybe not fully integrated like everyone else, but maybe partially,” the Social Democrat told the Bremen-based newspaper Weser-Kurier in comments published on Saturday.
Europe must resist US President Donald Trump’s push to make Canada part of the United States, said Gabriel, who was foreign minister from 2017-18 and vice chancellor from 2013-18 under then chancellor Angela Merkel.
“In any case, Canada is more European than some members of the European Union,” he added.
Trump has repeatedly belittled Canada as “the 51st state” of the United States and referred to former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau as governor, the title for the chief executive of a US state.
The US president has exerted pressure on his northern neighbour through tariffs, prompting Canada to impose retaliatory levies on some vehicle imports from the US.
Source: dpa.com