There could be rocky times ahead where old alliances can no longer be taken for granted, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says after a Group of Seven (G7) summit marked by strains between US President Donald Trump and his Western allies.
"The times when we could fully rely on others have passed us by a little bit, that's what I've experienced in recent days," she said while speaking at an event in Munich.
"For that reason, I can only say: we Europeans really have to take our fate into our own hands."
Of course, that can only be done in a spirit of friendship with the United States and Britain, she said.
"But we have to wage our own fight for our future, as Europeans, for our fate."
Most reports out of this week's G7 summit in Sicily saw Trump at odds with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The group managed to agree on the wording of goals for trade, but Trump was the lone holdout when it came to agreeing on policies to combat climate change.
Merkel called that "extremely problematic, not to say very unsatisfactory."
The German chancellor also said that there was resistance at the meeting to drafting language that would have called for more aid for refugees.
Merkel's challenger for the chancellor job in September elections told public broadcaster ARD later on Sunday that the answer to Trump's go-it-alone approach is for European countries to bond ever closer together.
"Europe is the answer," Martin Schulz said. "Stronger cooperation among the European countries at all levels is the answer to Donald Trump."
He added that leaders must never underestimate Trump.
"I think, people should have staked out clearer positions at the NATO summit, but most certainly by the time of the G7 summit," he said, referring to two international summits last week where Trump ruffled feathers by criticising partner countries on defence spending or standing as the sole veto to language endorsing action on climate change.
Schulz likened Trump's behaviour at those meetings to that of an "authoritarian leader" who wants to "humiliate others."
Merkel, of the centre-right Christian Democrats, will face Schulz of the centre-left Social Democrats when Germans pick their next leader in September.
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