Yet Schmidt was always a strong advocate of a close transatlantic partnership, which he saw as indispensable for Germany’s security and foreign policy. In fact, his initiative to counter the Soviet deployment of SS-20 intermediate-range nuclear missiles, a plan he set out in a major speech in 1977, was motivated above all by concerns about a potential decoupling of Europe and its US ally.
施密特与美国总统吉米·卡特的关系并不融洽，这一事实很多人都有过记录。但施密特一直是亲密大西洋伙伴关系的坚定倡导者，他将其视为德国安全和外交政策不可或缺的环节。事实上，1977年他曾在一次重要讲话中提出反对苏联部署SS-20中程核导弹的计划，其背后的主要原因是害怕造成欧洲及其美国盟友的不和。