BERLIN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Monday called for forging an "alliance for multilateralism" as a counterweight thinking to "America First".
Addressing the German ambassadors' conference, Maas said in the era of "America First", values such as cooperation, respect for international law and free trade have come under pressure worldwide.
"The more others rely on the law of the strongest, the more vigorously we must set the multilateral order against it," Maas told heads of German diplomatic missions.
Maas called again for forming a group of international team players -- an "alliance of multilateralists" based on cooperation, binding rules and the strength of law, as he wrote in local newspaper Handelsblatt last week.
Maas said it is clear that anyone who believes that resolving problems such as the global refugee crisis only with their own strength is doomed to failure. The new group of countries should join forces to ensure that the world community solves problems through cooperation and that organizations like UN remain strong, he said.
The German foreign chief noted that no new organization is planned for such an alliance. Instead, he said, the group should support existing institutions such as the United Nations.
