BERLIN, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed climate change, the regulation of migration as well as the fight against international terrorism in her New Year's speech on Monday.
Germany wanted to work toward solving these problems in its own-self interest while at the same time taking others' interests into consideration, Merkel said.
She said it was in the interest of Germans to "take on more responsibility," referring to the fact that Germany will take on a non-permanent seat in the United Nations (UN) Security Council in 2019 and 2020.
Germany will push for "global solutions" at the UN and spend more on humanitarian aid and defense, she said.
While talking about Europe, Merkel said Germany is committed to making the European Union more robust and more decisive.
As for Brexit, the German chancellor made it clear that "we want to maintain a close partnership with Britain despite its withdrawal from the European Union."
Merkel also called on the German population to participate in the upcoming European elections in May 2019. "You can help to ensure that the European Union continues to be a project of peace, prosperity and security," Merkel said.
On the national level, Merkel promised that the German government was "consistently taking the next steps in the structural change from traditional to new technologies." Germany is about to introduce the fifth generation of mobile communications 5G, its automobile industry is re-thinking electric mobility and the German government is generally busy with promoting all things digital.
After 13 years in office, Merkel is aware of her government's shortcomings and reflected that "at first it took us a long time to form a government at all, and when we had it, there was a dispute and a lot of preoccupation with ourselves."
Merkel announced that she will not run for another term in October.
