US  –   Former U.S. President Barack Obama told an audience in Berlin that prosperous nations could not hide behind a wall to shield themselves from the turmoil and poverty afflicting other countries.

Speaking in a panel discussion on democracy with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in front of 70,000 people at a spot where the Berlin wall once stood, Obama spent 90 minutes talking about international and U.S. issues without once mentioning his successor Donald Trump. But in what appeared to be a reference to Trump’s vow to build a wall along the border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs, Obama said the world was shrinking due to globalization and technology. It was not possible to stay isolated from troubles abroad, he said.

“If there are disruptions in these countries, if there is bad governance, if there is war or if there is poverty, in this new world that we live in we can’t isolate ourselves,” Obama said. “We can’t hide behind a wall.”(Reuters)[+]