Costa: that is why it will likely be a “decisive month” for US-EU relationships | EUROtoday

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Brussels – The dedication to protection, the challenges in commerce, the way forward for Ukraine. There isn’t any scarcity of knots with the United States. In a dialog with some European newspapers, together with the Sole 24 Ore, the president of the European Council António Costa needed to be optimistic in regards to the skill to seek out compromises with Washington, whereas making certain cohesion between the twenty -seven. June, he specified, might be a “decisive month” for transatlantic relationships.

The Community leaders may have at the very least two alternatives to satisfy President Donald Trump: first on the G7 in Kananaskis (in Canada) after which after the NATO summit to be held in L’Aja on the finish of the month. On the army entrance, defined the previous Portuguese premier, “we must find an agreement with the United States in order to rebalance the commitment in the defense sector, without ever, never, never put at risk the principle of deterrence pursuant to article 5 of the NATO Treaty”.

“I do not know if the rebalancing will take 5 or 10 years. But I do know we have now a shared imaginative and prescient with the United States on this theme. We each desire a rebalancing of the protection burden. European strategic autonomy is mainly a instrument to strengthen the transatlantic bond (…) Creating issues on the financial entrance would imply creating issues for this transition “. The message is clear: we preserve the economic relationship, finding a commercial agreement, in order to facilitate a military understanding.

Still, the theme remains controversial. Everyone agrees to assume greater responsibility in the defense, but there are member countries – Spain, for example – that oppose the idea of ​​significantly increasing military spending. “The European Union relies on solidarity,” explains our interlocutor. In the same way in the past northern Europe has helped Southern Europe during the financial crisis, “at the moment it’s for the South of demonstrating solidarity to our neighbors of the East”.

In particular, German rearmament worries some: “We want a European rearmament, not of particular person nationwide laughter – replies António Costa – we should give attention to a collective protection, towards exterior threats, and to not defend ourselves from one another (…) we aren’t speaking a few European military, however in regards to the creation of a strong collective system of frequent deterrence”. Even with new debt in common? “Everything is on the desk. We proceed to debate our priorities and find out how to finance them ».