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Berlin (AP) - Three and a half months after US President Joe Biden was sworn in, a minister of his government is visiting Germany for the first time.
Defense Minister Lloyd Austin meets with his colleague Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in Berlin and then travels to Stuttgart to speak to US soldiers.
The visit is intended to usher in a return to close military coordination between the two countries, which was only very limited in the era of President Donald Trump.
Among other things, Trump had announced, without prior consultation, a massive troop withdrawal from Germany as a punitive action for what he saw as the low military spending of the economically strongest European alliance partner.
Biden has since reversed the decision.
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US CONTINUES URGENT DEFENSE SPENDING
The change in government has not changed the US position on defense spending: The Americans are urging that every NATO ally spends two percent of its gross domestic product on defense.
The federal government has recently increased its investments in the Bundeswehr significantly, but last year, at 1.56 percent, it was still well below the NATO target.
The transatlantic coordinator of the federal government, Peter Beyer, emphasized before the Austin visit that Germany was committed to the two percent target.
"Anything else would be disastrous," said the CDU politician of the German press agency.
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NORD STREAM 2 AS THE NUMBER ONE DISPUTE
The nearly completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will one day connect Russia and Germany, has been one of the main points of contention in German-American relations for years.
The change of government in Washington has not changed that.
The USA fear that Europe is too dependent on Russian gas and wants to stop the project with sanctions.
Proponents of the pipeline counter the Americans that they are only looking for better sales opportunities for their liquefied gas in Europe.
Beyer calls for a quick settlement of the dispute.
"Nord Stream 2 is hindering the restart of German-American relations," he said.
A moratorium, i.e. a temporary halt in construction on the route, could open a window for talks to resolve the conflict.
"I see difficulties for a restart as long as that is not cleared up."
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AFGHANISTAN DEPLOYMENT REMAINS UNCLEAR
The conversation between Austin and Kramp-Karrenbauer should also focus on the situation in the Indo-Pacific and the future of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, in which Germany is one of the largest troop contributors alongside the USA.
The federal government wants to make the withdrawal of 10,000 NATO soldiers still stationed in the war-torn country dependent on the success of the peace negotiations between the Islamist Taliban and the government in Kabul.
It is so far unclear whether the USA sees this in the same way.
The Trump administration had promised the Taliban through the so-called Doha Agreement that all foreign soldiers would withdraw by the end of April in order to persuade them to hold peace talks.
The insurgents have already threatened new violence against NATO troops if the deadline is not met.
SYMBOLIC VISIT TO STUTTGART
After his talks in Berlin, Austin travels to the US troop base that would have been hardest hit by Trump's withdrawal plans.
The US commandos for the troops in Europe and Africa that Trump wanted to relocate to other European countries are stationed in the capital of Baden-Württemberg.
The fact that Austin is now choosing this location for his troop visit is "a strong commitment to the stationing of US troops in Germany," said Beyer.
After Israel, Germany is the second stop on the US Secretary of State's trip.
On Wednesday he will continue to Brussels, where he will meet the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Finally, he wants to speak to his colleague Ben Wallace in Great Britain.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210413-99-179517 / 3