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After Biden, Brinken returned to Europe to support Western unity – EURACTIV.com


A few days after President Joe Biden’s first visit abroad, Secretary of State Anthony Brinken returned to Europe on Tuesday (June 22) to continue his work to build Western unity against a rising China.

Brinken left Washington for Berlin late Tuesday afternoon and will continue to Paris and Rome to meet the two main power brokers of the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the leaders of the Vatican. People and participate in talks about bringing peace to the world. Libya was scarred by war and defeated the Islamic State extremist organization.

The senior American diplomat will hold a meeting of the major economies of the Group of 20 in the Italian city of Matera on June 29 to conclude his trip, which may allow him to face-to-face with diplomats from China-China at home and abroad The growing self-confidence has been identified as the biggest challenge for the United States by the Biden administration.

During his travels, Biden proposed a huge infrastructure plan for the Group of Seven industrial democracies to counter China’s iconic “Belt and Road” initiative, and led the NATO summit to discuss China more clearly than ever before.

“This visit is a continuation of President Biden’s priority to rebuild our relationship with our allies,” said Phil Rick, the top US diplomat in Europe.

He told reporters: “The power of these relationships will lay the foundation for many foreign policy priorities, including the economic recovery as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the counterattack against authoritarianism in the People’s Republic of China and the world.”

Repair cracks

After President Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency, most Europeans are pleased with Biden’s enthusiasm for the alliance, who put pressure on friendly countries for what he believes is unfair trade practices and insufficient contribution to the common defense.

Biden’s team is obviously transatlantic. Brinken is a gentle foreign policy veteran who was partly raised in Paris and is fluent in French. Compared with his arrogant predecessor Mike Pompeo, his style has changed drastically. He comes from the extremely conservative world of American politics.

Biden acted quickly to ease differences with Europe, reversed Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Germany, and resolved long-standing differences with Europe on aircraft subsidies.

More controversially, Biden gave up the main sanctions on the Beixi No. 2 natural gas pipeline, which is a natural gas pipeline that is about to be completed between Russia and Germany. It is particularly opposed by Ukraine, which is working with pro-Russian separatists. Struggle and worry about losing influence as a transit point.

Even some lawmakers in the Biden Democratic Party have criticized this approach. They saw the appeasement of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who Biden met in Geneva last week.

The Biden administration argued that the project was too far to be stopped and instead retained a road to cooperate with Germany to set a red line for Russia.

Reeker said the government decided to “do some positive things under difficult circumstances”.

China’s transformation

Ian Lesser, the vice president of the German Marshall Foundation in the United States, said that North Stream 2 is one of many issues that Biden will weigh on the “difficult balance” with Europeans.

“The question is, really, are we going to do this against Germany or against Russia?” he said.

As Merkel prepares to end her 15-year term after this year’s election, the friendly new face of the White House helps to ensure that relations between the United States and the European Union, the most populous country, remain stable.

But the next German leader may take a different approach to China than Merkel, who advocates trade to win over Asian powers.

Annalena Baerbock, a major candidate for the Green Party, warned that Chinese companies such as Huawei would collect data in Europe and vowed to take a harsher response to the treatment of Uyghur minorities-this stance would Let the United States, which accused Beijing of genocide, feel happy.

“Europe’s view of China is also getting tougher,” said Lesser, who is based in Brussels.

“Although the attitude here is not like Washington’s, and they may never be exactly the same in details or style, the Biden administration is seeking to encourage this long-term convergence.”





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