By John Irish
PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Europe is perfectly within its rights to push back against the United States at a time when it is making unacceptable proposals, France’s foreign minister said on Friday.
Jean-Noel Barrot’s comments come amid increasing frustration among some of Washington’s allies over how President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign and trade policies have upended traditional relationships and alliances.
“In just a few months, the new U.S administration has decided to rethink the ties that bind us. That is its right. And it is also our right to say no to an historic ally, however historic it may be, when its proposal is unacceptable,” Jean-Noel Barrot said in an annual speech to French ambassadors.
Trump’s coveting of Greenland, the autonomous, mineral-rich Danish territory that he says the U.S. needs for its national security, is the latest policy stance to alarm Europeans, who are scrambling to assess how to respond to the threat.
Barrot appeared to cast the U.S. as a threat on a par with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, whose forces have invaded Ukraine, saying Europe was being assailed from the outside by “adversaries” trying to unravel historic bonds.
‘THREATS AND COERCION’
“They dream of exploiting our divisions once again, as they have done for centuries. They are already beginning to test the strength of our Union through threats and coercion, as evidenced by territorial incursions on our eastern flank, trade blackmail, and claims to Greenland, which is not for sale,” he said.
Barrot was speaking two days after Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in unusually strong comments, spoke of a “breakdown of values by our most important partner, the USA” and said the world risked being turned into a “den of robbers, where the most unscrupulous take whatever they want”.
With a French presidential election in less than 18 months, Barrot criticised efforts to back “political forces that want to turn their backs on the European heritage” – a clear reference to U.S. support for far-right parties in Europe.
Barrot also slammed U.S. sanctions imposed on European anti-disinformation campaigners and former European Union officials, including ex-commissioner Thierry Breton, over what Washington says were attempts to censor U.S. social media platforms.
“These are… in reality a challenge to our ability to choose our own rules within our own borders,” he said, adding that France would resist such pressure.
(Reporting by John Irish; writing by Dominique VidalonEditing by Gareth Jones)
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