Vance urges Europe not to be a « lasting vassal » on the United States
Europe is « our ally », but it cannot be the « permanent vassal » of the United States in terms of security and trade, US Vice President Jay Di Wans said in an interview with the British website UNHERD.
– We consider Europe as our ally. We simply want an alliance in which Europeans will be a little more independent, and that will affect our security and trade relations. It is not good for Europe and it is not in the interest of America to be Europe’s constant vassal in terms of security – he said.
After returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump urged Europeans to stand more about their own defense and sharply criticized the European Union, accusing it of pursuing an unfair trade policy towards the United States.
Vance has also criticized European leaders several times, saying in a Munich speech in February that they are not fighting firmly against immigration and that freedom of speech in Europe is under threat.
« The reality is that – it is brutal to say, but it is true – that the whole European security infrastructure has been subsidized by the United States since my birth, » said Jay Di Vance.
He added that « most European countries, with the exception of France, the United Kingdom and Poland, have no armies capable of guaranteeing reasonable defense. »
In early March, he surprised Europeans with the statement that for Ukraine, concluding an economic agreement with the United States would be « a better guarantee of 20,000 troops from a country that has not waged a war for 30 or 40 years ».
« I don’t think Europe is a bad thing for the United States, » he said, adding that he believes that stronger Europe could have avoided the « strategic disaster » of the war that began in Iraq in the 2003 US -led coalition.
Referring to negotiations between London and Washington on a bilateral economic agreement, Vance said they had a « good chance » to result in « a great deal that would be in the best interest in both countries ».
