EU calls for louder European voice in wake of Trump victory

“On EU-NATO partnership we presented…”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told European Union defense ministers in Brussels on Tuesday that “a strong NATO is important for Europe but it’s also important for the United States”.

Stoltenberg’s speech also follows reports that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation on Monday where the two agreed to work towards “constructive cooperation”.

The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russian Federation over Crimea in July 2014 and then tightened them in December 2014, banning EU citizens from buying or financing companies in Crimea, whose annexation has prompted the worst East-West stand-off since the Cold War.

Trump has said he would first consider whether an ally that is under attack has been pulling its weight in terms of defence spending before deciding whether the USA would help.

“In these uncertain times we need strong American leadership, and we need Europeans to shoulder their fair share of the burden”, he said.

Analysts warn that a Trump presidency poses many other threats to the European Union, from the economic blow of his expected withdrawal from trade negotiations, to concerns about his commitment to defending Europe in the event of any Russian aggression. “We won’t move to two per cent tomorrow, but increasing to 1.2 or 1.3 per cent would be a significant increase”.

During the election campaign, Mr Trump raised questions about whether the United States would automatically come to the aid of an endangered ally, and spoke warmly about Russian President Vladimir Putin. European Union foreign ministers meet Monday to discuss strained ti.

The aim is to “provide a solid basis for long-term relations” with oil and gas-rich Azerbaijan, which lies on the Caspian Sea and neighbors Georgia, Russia, Armenia and Iran.

NATO’s growing concern on equity in defense terms is essentially due to the recent victory of the Republican candidate Donald Trump in the United States presidential election, which creates a marked uncertainty in the future of the alliance.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, dismissed Johnson’s absence from Sunday’s meeting by saying it was “normal” for a country leaving the bloc “not to be so interested” in the future of EU-US relations.

“You have to increase defence spending when tensions go up”, Stoltenberg said, citing failing states in North Africa, the threat of Islamic militants and Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea as proof. They met Monday in Brussels to talk about what Trump’s victory means for the region’s security.

But on Sunday Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said: “Regardless of whether we see Donald Trump as a person who is not an angel, he isn’t a child with special needs either”.

Noting EU defense activities that are already operating, like anti-smuggling operations and United Nations peacekeeping, she said, “We have a lot of potential that we don’t utilize yet”.