Berlin - Speaking just hours before the inauguration of a new US embassy in Berlin, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Friday for the United States and Europe to unite on new issues.

"A solid new agenda" in the trans-Atlantic relationship was needed, he told a conference organized by a German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The purpose should be to cope with 21st-century challenges.

Key issues were how to manage resource shortages, arms control and a policy of international responsibilities shared with rising powers such as China, India and Brazil, Steinmeier said.

"Old sympathies must be revived" in the relationship between Europe and the United States, he said.

George H W Bush, the former US president, was to be guest of honour at US Independence Day festivities opening the landmark embassy Friday evening. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was also set to address the 4,500 guests at the gala event.

The modern, 130-million-dollar building near the Brandenburg Gate has been put up on the site of the pre-Second-World-War US embassy. For decades under communism, the Berlin Wall ran across the site. (dpa)