The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, warned this Wednesday that, every time the United States of America sacrifices the transatlantic relationship, they pay for this mistake later, with the additional cost of wars and reconstructions.
“As much as there are North American circles — and they exist — that think it is worth sacrificing the European Union, for reasons of asserting the American economy, or for momentary tactical moves to resolve international conflicts, it is a mistake,” he said. the head of State, at the Military Academy, in Amadora, in the Lisbon district.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who was speaking about the future North American administration presided over by Donald Trump, added: “Every time the United States of America minimizes the transatlantic relationship, they pay for this mistake later, and at an increased cost: they have to pay for wars, they have to pay for reconstructions, they have to pay for realities that they think are outdated, facing the Pacific”.
“Geography has this limitation: Europe is where it is, the United States of America is where it is and, therefore, as important as the Pacific is, the Atlantic is also important”, maintained the President of the Republic, who was speaking at the session of closing of a congress of the National Defense Course Auditors Association (AACDN).
At this meeting on “Security and Defense in Europe — Challenges”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argued that the European Union must reinforce “strategic autonomy and weight in security and defense”, but for this investment it needs the “support of opinions public”, which “is only possible with economic growth”.
“It is difficult to explain a priority as important as the political priority of security and defense in societies with economic crises, with a lack of recovery, with marked inequalities, with outdated systems and, therefore, with weak leadership”, he argued.
The President of the Republic anticipated that, at the beginning of a “new cycle of leadership”, the European Union will face the challenge of “maintaining and strengthening its unity in a context in which there will be many requests for original positions”, with it being up to “always safeguard the transatlantic axis”.
“All of this together could be more complex if the United States of America fails Europe, at least in part, because it would make management of the Ukrainian front more difficult and would make it difficult for the urgent existence of a single European voice, which does not yet exist, regarding the Middle East.” and Near East”, he pondered.
For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “it goes without saying that the transatlantic relationship is in the North American interest, it is not just in the European interest”, and both “the United States of America and the European Union will emerge stronger or weaker from this moment of transition of cycle depending on whether the new North American administration decides to be more or less favorable to transatlantic convergence”.
In his opinion, in the previous administration of Donald Trump, “eight years ago, an orientation conducive to convergence did not prevail.”
“This time, what many, especially in Europe, but also in the United States of America, want is for it to triumph, politically and economically. As for the Russian Federation and China, they will gain from everything that weakens the transatlantic axis and will lose with everything that reinforces it”, he added.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
