German Lawmaker Berates US Envoy for Issuing Threats ‘Like a Hostile Power’

Nick, who is also head of the country’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), noted that “for a generation, each and every US Ambassador I got to know personally – career diplomat or political appointee alike – used to leave his post as a highly respected figure and trusted friend of Germany”.

Last Saturday, US Ambassador to Berlin Richard Grenell reportedly hit out at German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas over his criticism of US President Donald Trump’s decision to exit the Open Skies Treaty.

“Now someone leaves issuing threats as if he were representing a hostile power”, the German MP added, in an apparent reference to Grenell.

The US ambassador was quick to respond by tweeting that Berlin allegedly “always wanted me to stop asking you publicly to pay your NATO obligations and calling for an end to [the Russian gas pipeline project] Nord Stream 2”.