German government has stressed on the need to get more involved in international affairs
"Germany must be prepared to become engaged in an earlier and more substantial way," Xinhua quoted Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as saying Saturday during the Munich Security Conference.
The German government has taken a new stance in its foreign policies to assume responsibility more specifically, the minister said referring to the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria and handling the crisis in Mali.
"Germany is too big to only comment on world politics from the sidelines," he added
The German government would continue to be a driving force of common foreign, security and defence policy in Europe, and would discuss with its partners possible diplomatic tools before considering the use of force, the minister said.
Steinmeier was the third senior German official in recent days to signal Germany's new approach to global affairs.
On Friday, German President Joachim Gauck and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen both said that Germany would take on more international responsibilities.
