Europe rattled by Trump broadside
Calls for unity after US president-elect derides Nato as obsolete and attacks Angela Merkel’s migrant ‘catastrophe’
BRUSSELS // German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday led a sharp European response to Donald Trump after he branded the Nato alliance “obsolete” and criticised her open- door refugee policy.
In an interview with two European newspapers, the US president-elect unleashed a volley of verbal attacks on the European Union, hailing Britain’s decision to leave the bloc and saying more countries were going to leave as well.
With fears growing in Europe over Mr Trump’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance and over signs that he will pivot towards Russia, Mrs Merkel warned the continent now had to take responsibility for itself.
“We Europeans have our fate in our own hands,” Mrs Merkel said when asked about Mr Trump’s criticisms. She also said she would work towards getting the EU to strengthen the economy and fight terrorism. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Europe was stunned by Mr Trump’s remarks on Nato, which came five days before the tycoon’s inauguration as US president.
“The interview statements of the American president-elect caused, indeed here in Brussels, astonishment and agitation,” Mr Steinmeier said as he went from a meeting with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg to talks with EU counterparts.
French foreign minister JeanMarc Ayrault said “the best response” to Mr Trump’s comments was “the unity of Europeans”. Mr Trump’s latest remarks also caused consternation among eastern European Nato countries who are nervous about Moscow after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and involvement in Ukraine.
“I said a long time ago that Nato had problems,” Mr Trump told the British newspaper The Times and Bild, Germany’s biggest-selling daily, in interviews published yesterday.
“Number one, it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago,” he said, referring to the US-led alliance’s origins in the Cold War.
“Number two, the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay.” On the campaign trail, Mr Trump said he would think twice about helping Nato allies if the United States was not “reasonably reimbursed” for the costs of defending them – a common source of friction within the 28-nation alliance.
Mr Stoltenberg reiterated that he had full confidence in the US commitment to Europe. His spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said: “He [Mr Stoltenberg] is absolutely confident that the incoming US administration will remain committed to Nato.”
In his interviews, Mr Trump further extended a hand to Russia, which has been hit by a string of sanctions under president Barack Obama over Moscow’s involvement in Ukraine, the Syrian war and for alleged cyberattacks to influence the US presidential election.
“Let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia,” the president-elect said, suggesting in vague terms a deal in which nuclear arsenals would be reduced and sanctions against Moscow would be eased.
Underscoring the Obama administration’s very different stance, US vice- president Joe Biden made a farewell trip to Ukraine yesterday to show support for the war-scarred country. In another comment that alarmed the Europeans, Mr Trump also refused to say that he trusted Mrs Merkel more than Russian president Vladimir Putin, for who the next US president has often expressed admiration.
“Well, I start off trusting both – but let’s see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all,” he said.
Mr Trump also criticised Mrs Merkel for admitting undocumented migrants into Germany, insinuating that this posed a security risk after a wave of ISIL attacks in Europe. “I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from,” he said, adding that he had “great respect” for Mrs Merkel.
‘ We Europeans have our fate in our own hands
Angela Merkel German chancellor