“Europe has no choice but to prepare for a change in the EU-US relationship,” Poland’s foreign minister said Radek Sikorsky.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, speaking in Politicalwarned European allies that they must prepare for a “shift” in the transatlantic relationship and start spending more on defense – regardless of who is elected US president in November.
In particular, Sikorsky stated that he believed that the United States will continue to be a “strategic partner” of the European Union, regardless of who wins the American presidential race.
But European countries “have no choice” but to take more responsibility for their collective defense, as Washington will continue to “keep a close eye on Asia.”
EU concerned about US investment in NATO
“It is our job to explain to our American partners that as long as we feel the threat from Russia, we will not be able to fully engage there,” he said, referring to Asia, where European countries have deployed far fewer forces than the United States.
Sikorski’s comments, made after US President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the presidential race, underscore the growing concern among Washington’s European allies what the US may significantly reduce its investment in NATOespecially if former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Jay Dee Vance, are elected to the White House in November.
While Europe is more nervous about Trump’s potential return, diplomats from many EU countries argue that the shift to Asia is a deeper trend in U.S. foreign policy and continued under both Democratic and Republican presidents.
Among other issues, EU leaders and officials must address perceptions – right or wrong – that America exploits its trading partners, including the European Union.
Although the EU remains the United States’ largest global trading partner, the growing US goods trade deficit with Europe fuels this narrative.
Russia – Ukraine
Another important subject is Russian disinformation and propaganda, which are intensifying ahead of the November presidential vote and which aims to undermine US support for the war in Ukraine.
“If Moscow can encourage isolationist tendencies among Americans, convince them that the United States has no real interests worth fighting for in Europe, and persuade them to oppose military aid to Ukraine,” the paper warns, “then the Kremlin could win not just a military war in Ukraine, but a hybrid war across the West.”