Pence chastises EU allies on Iran, Venezuela
MUNICH — US Vice-President Mike Pence rebuked European powers over Iran and Venezuela on Saturday in a renewed attack on Washington’s traditional allies, rejecting a call by Germany’s chancellor to include Russia in global cooperation efforts.
In speeches and in private talks at the Munich Security Conference, Mr. Pence and Chancellor Angela Merkel laid out competing visions for how the West should address world crises.
“America is stronger than ever before and America is leading on the world stage once again,” Mr. Pence told European and Asian officials in Munich.
“America First does not mean America alone,” he said, calling on the European Union to follow Washington in quitting the Iran nuclear deal and recognizing the head of Venezuela’s congress, Juan Guaido, as the country’s president.
Speaking before Mr. Pence, Ms. Merkel questioned whether the US decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal and withdrawal from Syria was the best way to tackle Tehran in the region.
During a question-and-answer session, she said it would be wrong to exclude Russia politically, but Mr. Pence said Washington was “holding Russia accountable” for its 2014 seizure of Ukraine and what the West says are efforts to destabilize it through cyber attacks, disinformation and covert operations. —