Foreign Affairs Minister appears on "ZDF heute journal" news program, fuels doubts on dependability of German foreign policy

Foreign Affairs Minister Guido Westerwelle attempted to defend German's policy toward Libya, which in the opinion of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) serves to fuel doubts about the dependability of Germany's foreign policy. "When Westerwelle calls Germany's new strategic partnerships a "compass" of German foreign policy, it does not bode well for Germany's dedication to human rights," said Ulrich Delius of the STP's Africa section on Thursday in Göttingen. "Because these new partners are China, Russia and Angola?" countries that not only trample on the human rights of their own populations, but also violate these rights around the globe."

Following criticism of former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, Westerwelle asserted on Wednesday evening in an interview with "ZDF heute journal" that: "In the world of the twenty-first century, it is necessary to take the new global centers of power seriously and develop new strategic partnerships. This is not a change in policy, but rather the simple acknowledgement that we live in a new era... As an export country, we have to forge strategic partnerships with these new power centers as well. This has nothing to do with not knowing who our own allies are."

"German economic interests must not supersede human rights and the dedication to basic principles of the rule of law," insisted Delius. "Comparing Germany's new strategic partners to its long-time allies is terribly short-sighted, because these new partnerships have sprung from short-term economic interests, rather than growing out of decades-long relationships."

Germany’s strategic partners China and Russia were long-time close allies of Libya's dictator Qaddafi. Both countries massively criticized the military intervention by Western nations in the North African country. Beijing acknowledged the victory of the rebels just two days ago. Up to that point, China had remained neutral with regard to the civil war in Libya. Angola had offered Qaddafi political asylum right up to the end. Angola's president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, to whom German chancellor Angela Merkel offered a strategic partnership as recently as July 2001, called on the Western countries August 18, 2011 to stop the air strikes in Libya immediately. In his own country, dos Santos is known as a dictator who retaliates as harshly as Qaddafi against dissidents.