But the real victims of the financial collapse in the US state of Alabama's most populous county are its poorest residents - forced to bathe in bottled water and use portable toilets after being cut off from the mains supply.
The meeting is preparing for a summit of Nato heads of state being held in Chicago next month, where a final commitment on funding Afghan security is expected to be announced
It is his first such speech since being re-elected in March for a third term following a winter of political protests over ballot-rigging and state corruption.
State media reports of the results following Saturday's second and final round of the referendum suggest that some 63% of voters had backed the charter. Turnout was low, estimated at 30%.
Mr Steinmeier did not state bluntly that Russia should pull back but, rather, that it should do more to reassure the West about its intentions - or sanctions might follow when EU leaders meet on Thursday: "I think that if we don't see decisive steps in the next one-and-a-half days in terms of coming to an international agreement, for example on the creation of a contact group with which Russia is ready to work, then I think the discussion among leaders in the European Council will indeed lead to measures being taken."
Chancellor Merkel has involved herself in the politics of the region. She has maintained links with heads of state, including President Putin, but also with dissidents in both Russia and Ukraine - remember that the jailed Russian oligarch and Putin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky flew straight to Berlin when he was freed from his Russian prison.
