GERMANY: German chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will not change Germany's policy on Iraq but she has signalled that she will pursue closer ties with the US.
On a visit to the Nato headquarters in Brussels yesterday, Dr Merkel said she believed ties with the US could be developed further and that Nato should be the central forum for transatlantic political and security co-operation.
However, she did not depart from the anti-war stance taken by her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, regarding the US invasion of Iraq.
When asked whether Germany would join a Nato mission to train Iraqi military officers inside Iraq, she said: "We made clear in the talks that we will continue not to take part in training inside Iraq, but that we will continue to conduct training in neighbouring countries. So there will be continuity with the previous policy."
Nato secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer thanked Dr Merkel for the signal which her visit sent that the alliance "is the anchor for the transatlantic policy dialogue".
Relations between Germany and the US were strained due to Mr Schröder's trenchant opposition to the war in Iraq.
Visiting the Nato headquarters on her first visit abroad was seen as a politically important gesture by Dr Merkel, who has indicated she wants to repair relations with the US.
Later, following a meeting with European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, she pledged her coalition's support for a more closely integrated EU and the resurrection of the stalled European constitution, which was rejected by Dutch and French voters this year.
"We stand by the constitution. The pause for reflection is not an excuse to set aside the constitution," Dr Merkel said.
The constitution could not be pushed too hard but more progress on it may be possible under the German presidency of the EU in 2007.
The EU needed to regain its confidence after a string of setbacks, show it could take decisions and pursue economic reform, she added.
"We no longer have ideological trench warfare to worry us, so we will be looking for pragmatic solutions. We need to focus on economic reform so that, in a globalised world, we can be competitive, we can keep up."
Dr Merkel will visit British prime minister Tony Blair today to discuss how to move forward on the EU budget.