I make no secret of the fact that yesterday lunchtime I had planned to give a different speech on the US elections. Today, it's plain to see that the lay of the land is different.

We are in a new phase of government.

For this very reason, the clear messages that we are now conveying to our European and international partners with regard to the US elections are more important than ever. These are actually messages we ourselves need to heed even more.

What is at stake at this time is nothing less than our freedom and our peace in Europe. It is our security we are talking about, the responsibility that we – each and every one of us in this distinguished chamber – bear from this day forward.

America has voted and Donald Trump has won the election. The Federal Government offered its congratulations. For us, it is clear that Germany will remain a strong, reliable ally for the next US administration – a partner and a friend. That is what we are offering. Especially now, at a time of transition in the United States, which is not just the largest economy in the world but the largest democratic economy, at a time of transition also here in Germany, in Europe’s largest economy and the world’s second-largest democratic economy.

Especially now, at a time when autocrats are vying with democracies to secure power and spheres of influence in an atmosphere of global systemic rivalry, especially now the transatlantic partnership is so important for our security and for our freedom.

However, because what we need at this extremely turbulent and challenging time is not words but action each and every day, I would like to briefly outline what it means to be a strong and reliable partner right now.

Firstly: It means knowing where you are and communicating this in no uncertain terms. We stand by the values and principles that have formed the bedrock for the success and growth of the German-American partnership over the decades and, yes, these are values and principles we Germans owe to the Americans and which are in our own primordial interest: freedom, democracy, international law.

This is not something “Western”, contrary to what we just heard. These are values anchored in our Basic Law. All democrats should thus embrace and uphold these values. Because freedom, democracy and international law provide the best protection for us as citizens, but also for our economy. Part of this is the understanding that shared rules and agreements protect our freedom and our prosperity – on both sides of the Atlantic and all across the world.

It is no coincidence that I was in Ukraine during the US election. The people there have been living in the shadow of war for almost 1000 days. While the methods may have changed during these 1000 days, the destructive fervour has not. It is growing by the day. Russian terror is now mainly being played out from the air. The air raid sirens have sounded 65 times in Kyiv in the last four weeks alone. That is exactly why I was there for the last few days: to make plain that we are committed to freedom and peace in Europe in these turbulent times, committed to peace and freedom in Ukraine which right now means standing firmly by Ukraine’s side for as long as it takes because that is the best way of protecting our own freedom and democracy and upholding international law.

It is good to know that this, and here I also address the CDU/CSU, is something we share as democrats. I am truly grateful for the intensive cooperation, particularly when it comes to peace in Europe, when it comes to Ukraine. After all, for almost 1000 days now it has, what is more, been Putin's strategy to divide us as democracies, to consciously divide us in Germany, to plant the very narrative that we just heard from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance and will probably hear again in just a moment, the narrative that peace in Europe and social justice in our society are diametrically opposed. That is the division Putin wants. And that is exactly what we must prevent.

For this very reason, we need to stand united now in Europe, to be a strong, united voice in the world because reliability is what we need in these uncertain times.

And because this speech is now different than planned, I issue today an appeal – my appeal to everyone in this chamber – that we, together, remind ourselves time and again what our responsibility is: to stand firm and be there not just for the citizens of our country but also for future generations here in Europe and to make plain that, despite our differences as democratic parties, no gap can emerge between external security, internal security and social security but that in fact all of this is ultimately what holds us together as democracies.

Precisely because these elements are inseparable if we are to protect our freedom – and this brings me to my second point –we now have to think big and act big when it comes to investing in European security. We have to take care not to keep putting on shackles that will prevent us from protecting ourselves.

The Commission President’s proposals on strengthening European defence are on the table. I would like to call to mind once more the days after 24 February also because I am so grateful that, regardless of party lines, we were able to shoulder responsibility together. After 24 February we together built a majority here that had the parliamentary strength not to seek political advantage but, in full recognition of the gravity of the moment, to pave the way together for the special fund. That is exactly what we need again now: more financial scope to secure peace. The parties remaining in the Federal Government made this plain yesterday evening because, as is clear after this election day in the United States, we Europeans will have to shoulder even more responsibility for security policy ourselves, especially within NATO, regardless of who appoints the next chancellor.

That is not a realisation we came to following the election result in the United States; rather it has been the focus of our work, the work of this Federal Government, over the past three years. This is the new course we set for our security policy with the National Security Strategy: by strengthening the European pillar in NATO, with the German brigade in Lithuania, with investment in defence at the 2% target, which, yes, we will have to increase yet further, and also with our support for Ukraine.

After all, this is how we make our own country more resilient, for example with the umbrella act for critical infrastructure protection that we adopted just yesterday. Each and every investment in our security is an investment in our freedom.

That means that we now need to stand tall as partners and address differences openly also across the Atlantic with a view to finding shared solutions not just when it comes to security on our continent but also with a view to the pressing issues that Mr Hardt just mentioned: trade and economic issues, our China policy and of course the situation in the Middle East.

Our transatlantic friendship is multi-faceted. It is a deep friendship and above all immensely valuable. That is why we want to be a partner that carries this friendship forward: confident, principled, strong and reliable.