MUNICH, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday warned off the collapse of the global political structure and hailed multilateralism and cooperation in dealing with global challenges.
In a passionate speech at the Munich Security Conference, Merkel said the international political structure built after WWII could not be smashed but be reformed in a multilateral way.
"What we see as an overall architecture underpinning our world as we know it is a bit of a puzzle now, if you like it has collapsed into many tiny parts," said Merkel, referring the motto of the conference this year that the world is becoming a great puzzle in pieces.
"We have learned a lesson from WWII, even though international multilateral fora may be slow or arduous, I am convinced that putting itself in other person's shoes, looking beyond the pale, and trying to forge win-win situations is better than solving these issues on your own," said Merkel.
"Multilateralism may be complicated, but it's better than staying at home alone," said Merkel at the end of her speech, which drew long-time applause at the conference hall.
