The outgoing US ambassador to Berlin, Richard Grenell, has lashed out at a lawmaker who called out his “hostile” stance towards Germany. The envoy said he merely followed Washington’s policies and defended American interests.
As the controversial envoy was about to leave his post, Andres Nick, a German lawmaker and the head of the nation’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), took to Twitter to question Grenell’s legacy.
For decades, every previous US envoy left his post as “a highly respected figure and trusted friend of Germany,” the MP wrote in a scathing post, adding that Grenell was the only one to step down while “issuing threats as if he were representing a hostile power.”
The ambassador, who never hesitated to lecture his hosts on how they should behave, immediately struck back, arguing that Berlin merely wanted him to “stop asking you publicly to pay your NATO obligations and calling for an end to Nord Stream 2” – a Russian pipeline bringing natural gas to Europe and Germany in particular.
A Trump appointee, Grenell has had quite a thorny relationship with Germany from the beginning of his tenure. The ambassador has repeatedly volunteered unsolicited ‘advice’ to Berlin on a range of policy issues, be it Germany’s trade with Iran, relations with Russia or insufficient contribution to the NATO budget. That’s not to mention numerous other controversies and blunders he’s embroiled himself in, such as openly calling to “empower Europe’s conservatives.”
It seems that the ambassador, who recently confirmed his decision to resign, decided to stick to his guns until the very end and to go out with a bang. Last week, when Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty (OST) sparked concern in Berlin, Grenell – true to form – once again scolded German officials for “complaining about the US,” advising they put pressure on Russia instead.
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