„We have all been unsettled by various statements by the new U.S. administration,“ Gabriel, who met U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week, told German broadcaster ARD.

„Both U.S. Vice President Pence and his colleague Tillerson made it clear in the talks that they have a strong interest in a united Europe, that they stand by a transatlantic partnership in NATO,“ Gabriel said, adding that this had „relativized much of what we heard before“.