Germany pushes back against Europe criticism in US National Security Strategy

World December 08, 17:12

"Political freedoms, including the freedom of expression, are among the fundamental values of the European Union," Sebastian Hille said

BERLIN, December 8. /TASS/. Germany’s government rejects the United States’ criticism of Europe, as outlined in America’s new National Security Strategy, deputy government spokesperson Sebastian Hille said.

"Security implies economic security and reducing dependence. However, it is obvious to us that Europe and the United States are linked historically, economically, and culturally and will remain close partners. Nevertheless, we reject some critical remarks about the European Union. Political freedoms, including the freedom of expression, are among the fundamental values of the European Union," he said. "We view accusations in this respect as ideological rather than strategic."

At the same time, he stressed that the German side "categorically disagrees" with certain provisions of the US geopolitical analysis. "The strategy doesn’t categorize Russia as a threat. We don’t share this point of view," Hille said, adding that his country subscribes to the NATO analysis, alleging that Russia "is a threat to trans-Atlantic security."

"The strategy also proves that our approach is correct: Europe must soon become able to largely guarantee its own security," he noted. "Unilateral dependence should be reduced." "Diversification is also important in the economic sphere," he added.

The strategy that was released on December 5 in particular says that Europe "will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less" as it is on the verge of "civilizational erasure" due to the activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies. In this regard, the US administration expressed doubt that some European countries will have enough economic and military capacity to remain reliable allies for Washington.

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