Victor Ashe, Former United States Ambassador to Poland spoke to CGTN Europe about EU Leaders’ meeting, expressing hope that European nations can reach a unified decision.
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00:00Well, Viktor Ash is the former United States ambassador to Poland. I asked him what he
00:05made of this European defence meeting.
00:08Well, I think it's critical, very important, and hopefully the European nations there can
00:15unify and overwhelmingly, if not unanimously, reach a decision. President Trump has made
00:22his decision, so I personally disagree and regret them. And you have to wonder what's
00:28coming down the road. Is NATO next?
00:31What's the answer to your question? Is NATO next?
00:34Well, I don't know. I'm not privy to President Trump's thoughts, but he certainly made critical
00:39comments. Now, I would say he's on track in terms of NATO countries putting more money
00:45up for the defence and for the NATO budget. Poland, for example, has been a country that
00:51has done quite a bit. The UK, under the leadership of Prime Minister Starmer, is moving ahead,
01:00and Germany maybe too. But it's important that everyone pitch in and do what they should,
01:05whether the US is involved or not.
01:07Do you think European countries are up to the job to quickly get this done?
01:14They're up to it and can do it if they have the will to do it. I cannot answer that. I
01:18individual leaders, President Macron of France and others, and the British Prime Minister,
01:24certainly, and King Charles, to the degree the King can be involved in political events,
01:31are clearly on board. But are the other countries? I don't know the answer to that yet.
01:37You're a seasoned observer of international events. This meeting in Brussels is being
01:43described as a critical turning point in Europe's defence. Do you see it like this?
01:49Is this one of those huge change moments?
01:52I think it's a very pivotal meeting. It may not be the pivotal meeting, but it may very
01:59well go down in history, just as Churchill's speech in 1947 went down in Westminster, Missouri,
02:05about the Iron Curtain. It may be a meeting that is remembered 60 years later.
02:12President Trump keeps on changing his mind 24 hours after making a decision about, for
02:17instance, car tariffs today. He's flip-flopped on the decision he made yesterday. It is just
02:22possible, is it not, that he's going to change his mind on this, isn't it?
02:27Certainly. It's an open book. He flips the pages frequently. There's no real consistency.
02:36The number one goal would be to reduce inflation and reduce prices. He's taken steps that
02:43does the exact opposite. With Mexico and Canada, needless fights with countries that have been
02:50traditionally our long-time friends. Then he backs off every 30 days, literally on the
02:58eve of the day they are to be implemented.
03:02You know from your time working in Europe that Germany is the engine of Europe. Germany
03:09has now agreed to loosen its borrowing limits to boost its defence spending. Could this
03:15signal a broader shift, perhaps, in Europe's willingness to heavily invest in its military
03:22capabilities?
03:24Oh, definitely. I mean, if Germany is isolated and not contributing, and it's one of the
03:30most significant countries in Europe, obviously that's a step back. But this is a step forward
03:35under the new leadership in Germany, and perhaps in a bipartisan way with what will be the
03:41ruling coalition in the German parliament. And I think that sends a signal. And the major
03:48countries in Europe will seem to be on board. Then the smaller countries, which are still
03:53very important, hopefully will join up.
03:57You spent a lot of your life in Europe. You're clearly back home in the States. How would
04:02you describe the current state of European-US relations? This was once your job. You were
04:10the face of America in Poland. How do you see it now?
04:15Well, I think it's at risk. I hope Europeans realise that a great deal of the American
04:22public are very supportive of close ties between the United States and Europe. And, of course,
04:27so many Americans are immigrants from Europe, one country or another, some going back 200
04:32years. But that's who we are. And I think the current Trump administration, hopefully,
04:42is one that will get its feet on the ground and be more realistic. But if it doesn't,
04:47you know, in three years and 10 months, they'll be gone.