Europe hits back at Trump over ‘obsolete’ Nato

BRUSSELS // Angela Merkel led a sharp European response to Donald Trump on Monday after he branded the Nato alliance “obsolete” and criticised the German chancellor’s open-door refugee policy.

In a hard-hitting interview with two European newspapers, the US president-elect unleashed a volley of verbal attacks on the European Union, hailing Britain’s decision to leave the bloc and saying more countries were going to leave also.

With fears growing in Europe over Mr Trump’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance and over signs he will pivot towards Russia, Mrs Merkel warned the continent now had to take responsibility for itself.

“We Europeans have our fate in our own hands,” Mrs Merkel said to reporters in Berlin when asked about Mr Trump’s criticisms, adding that she will work towards getting the EU to strengthen the economy and fight terrorism.

Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said Europe was stunned by Mr Trump’s remarks on Nato, which came just five days ahead of the billionaire businessman’s inauguration as US president.

“The interview statements of the American president-elect ... caused, indeed here in Brussels, astonishment and agitation,” Mr Steinmeier said as he went from a meeting with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg to talks with EU counterparts.

French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, meanwhile, said “the best response” to Mr Trump’s comments was “the unity of Europeans”.

Mr Trump’s latest remarks particularly caused consternation among eastern European Nato countries who are nervous about Moscow following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and involvement in Ukraine.

"I said a long time ago that Nato had problems," Mr Trump told the London-based Times newspaper and Bild, Germany's biggest-selling daily newspaper, on Friday.

“Number one, it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago,” he said, referring to the US-led alliance’s Cold War, post-World War II origins. “Number two, the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay.”

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump said he would think twice about helping Nato allies if the United States was not “reasonably reimbursed” for the costs of defending them – a common source of friction within the 28-nation alliance.

Nato’s chief, Mr Stoltenberg, reiterated that he had full confidence in the US commitment to Europe.

“He (Mr Stoltenberg) is absolutely confident that the incoming US administration will remain committed to Nato,” his spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

In his interviews, Mr Trump further extended a hand to Russia, which has been hit by a string of sanctions under president Barack Obama over Moscow’s involvement in Ukraine, the Syrian war and for suspected cyber attacks to influence the US presidential election.

“Let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia,” the president-elect said, suggesting in vague terms a deal in which nuclear arsenals would be reduced and sanctions against Moscow would be eased.

Underscoring the Obama administration’s very different stance, US vice-president Joe Biden made a farewell trip to Ukraine on Monday to show support for the war-scarred country.

In another comment that alarmed the Europeans, Mr Trump also refused to say that he trusted Mrs Merkel more than Russian president Vladimir Putin, for who the next US president has often expressed admiration.

“Well, I start off trusting both – but let’s see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all,” he said.

Mr Trump also directly criticised Mrs Merkel for letting Germany admit undocumented migrants into the country, insinuating that this posed a security risk following a wave of ISIL attacks in Europe.

“I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from,” Mr Trump said, adding he had “great respect” for the chancellor.

* Agence France-Presse