Taking a stance following harsh North American criticism of European Union policies, António Costa rejected any attempt by the United States to interfere in European politics.
“What we cannot accept is this threat of interference in Europe’s political life”declared António Costa, in an intervention at the Jacques Delors Institute, highlighting that “the United States cannot replace European citizens in choosing which parties are good and which parties are bad.”
Donald Trump’s Administration released a document on Friday in which it redefines its “National Security Strategy“. And according to the France-Presse agency, the long-awaited document formalizes the offensive launched by Washington against the European continent months ago.
Among other targets of this document are the European institutions that Washington claims undermine “political freedom and sovereignty”, migration policies, “censorship of freedom of expression and repression of political opposition, the collapse of birth rates and the loss of national identities and self-confidence” in Europe.
In response to North American criticism, the president of the European Council highlighted, in his speech this Monday, that The US “cannot replace Europe in what it considers to be freedom of expression”.
“We have differences in our views of the world, but this goes beyond that. This strategy continues to talk about Europe as an ally, but if we are allies, we must act as allies” and respect each other’s sovereigntydefended the former Portuguese prime minister.
For the president of the European Council, “the United States continues to be an important ally, the United States continues to be an important economic partner”.
António Costa also added that the fact that Russia considered Washington’s new perspective as “largely consistent” was a worrying sign.
“But our Europe must be sovereign”, he concluded.
In the “National Security Strategy”, it is alerted to the danger of “civilizational extinction” in Europe if “current trends” continue.
“If current trends continue, the continent [Europa] It will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less.”reads the 33-page document, analyzed by the French news agency AFP, which defends the “restoration of supremacy” of the USA in Latin America.
Trump, in the preface, summarizes: “We put America first in everything we do.”
“It is more than plausible that, within a few decades at most, the members of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) will become predominantly non-European,” he wrote, adding that “it is legitimate to question whether they will perceive their place in the world or their alliance with the USA in the same way as those who signed the organization’s charter.”
Washington expresses the desire that “Europe remains European, regains its civilizational self-confidence and abandons its fruitless obsession with regulatory suffocation.”
The text also argues that “the era of massive migration must end” and that “border security is the main element of national security [norte-americana]”.
Among other aspects, the US strategy announces a readjustment of its military presence in the world, “to respond to emerging threats” on that continent and a “movement away from ‘theaters’ [de operações] whose relative importance to American national security has diminished in recent years or decades.”
With agencies
