EU welcomes Pence assurance of Trump's
support
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[February 21, 2017]
By Roberta Rampton and Alastair Macdonald
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President
Mike Pence assured the European Union in Brussels on Monday that the
Trump administration will develop their cooperation in trade and
security and backs the EU as a partner in its own right.
A month after Donald Trump caused alarm by renewing his endorsement of
Brexit and suggesting others may follow Britain out of the EU, Pence
told reporters that he had come to "the home of the European Union" with
a message from the president.
Speaking of a "strong commitment ... to continue cooperation and
partnership with the European Union", Pence added: "Whatever our
differences, our two continents share the same heritage, the same values
and above all, the same purpose to promote peace and prosperity through
freedom, democracy and the rule of law."
At a later meeting at NATO across town, he made clear that U.S. support
for the Transatlantic defense alliance had a price, though; Trump, he
said, "expects real progress" from European governments by the end of
the year in increasing their spending on military budgets closer to a
NATO target of 2 percent of GDP.
Donald Tusk, who chairs the European Council of EU leaders, told
reporters that Pence had given him affirmative answers to three
questions on Trump's support for: the current system of international
law, NATO and "the idea of a united Europe".
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"Reports of the death of the West have been greatly exaggerated," Tusk
said, in a nod to American writer Mark Twain.
EU officials said they were encouraged by what they called Pence's clear
assurances, including on U.S. backing for holding the European Union
together after Brexit, though they will watch closely to see how far
Trump's actions match his deputy's words.
"We got everything we were looking for," one official said.
Pence noted the building of common European institutions after World War
Two and said: "With this union and in cooperation with the United
States, history will attest that when the United States and Europe are
peaceful and prosperous, we do advance the peace and prosperity of all
the world."
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![](../images/022117pics/news_t33.jpg)
Vice President Mike Pence gestures during a statement after a
meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 20,
2017. REUTERS/Eric Vidal
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COLD WAR HISTORY
Echoing comments he made over the weekend in Germany, Pence also
addressed worries in Europe over Trump's suggestion that the NATO
defense pact was "obsolete"; Washington, he said, was committed to
defending the sovereignty and territory of European states and
holding Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine.
Pence also repeated Trump's belief that "common ground" could be
established with Russia after years of confrontation.
Tusk, a former Polish premier who was jailed in the 1980s for
opposing Soviet control, seized on Pence's personal memories of a
youthful visit to divided Berlin to remind the new administration of
the value that Europeans attach to Cold War support from an earlier
Republican president, Ronald Reagan.
Europeans are concerned that Trump may prefer bilateral ties with
European powers rather than working with the Union. Pence spoke of
cooperation, including against Islamist violence: "The safety and
security of your union and our people depends on that increased
collaboration on the global fight against terrorism."
EU officials said Pence, the former governor of Indiana, had seemed
confident in his new role. One said he sought to assure them Trump's
"very American", direct style should not be taken as hostile or
reflect a push to isolate the United States.
(Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Gabriela Baczynska and
Waverly Colville; Writing By Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Ralph
Boulton)
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