MUNICH: French President Emmanuel Macron warned Saturday that the West is “weakening,” after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to fend off European anxiety about a decline of transatlantic unity.
“There is a weakening of the West,” the French leader told the Munich Security Conference.
“There’s an American policy that started several years ago and not just under this administration that includes a certain kind of withdrawal, of a rethink of its relationship with Europe.”
Pompeo defended on Saturday his nation's global role despite misgivings in Europe, vowing that Western values would prevail over China's desire for "empire".
Pompeo was seeking to reassure Europeans troubled by US President Donald Trump's "America first" rhetoric, ambivalence over the transatlantic NATO military alliance and tariffs on European goods.
"I'm happy to report that the death of the transatlantic alliance is grossly exaggerated. The West is winning, and we're winning together," he said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, listing US steps to protect liberal democracies.
