By Laurence Norman in Brussels and Anton Troianovski in Berlin
European leaders called Monday for unity after fresh comments by
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that they feared could herald a
break with decades of support from Washington for European
integration and the trans-Atlantic alliance.
"We Europeans have our destiny in our own hands," German
Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin. She
said that in the face of an uncertain U.S. policy, the Continent's
capitals need to "to work together intensively" and look "toward
the future."
Ms. Merkel's remarks, and other similar reactions by politicians
across Europe, followed a newspaper interview in which Mr. Trump
declared the North Atlantic Treaty Organization "obsolete" in its
current form and predicted other countries would follow Britain in
leaving the European Union.
Since World War II, Europe has looked to the U.S. to foster
security and stability. On Monday, leaders pledged to seek common
ground with Mr. Trump. But they said that amid deep differences
with Washington on issues ranging from the Iran nuclear deal to
trade policy, EU countries would need to be more assertive and
self-reliant.
The European Union is confronting challenges on multiple fronts.
The U.K.'s vote to leave the group, combined with a eurozone debt
crisis and a wave of migration from the Middle East and North
Africa that has fueled the rise of nationalist and
antiestablishment politics, are testing the bloc's resilience.
On top of that, the Continent is dealing with an assertive
Russia that some officials say is intent on undermining Western
democracies as well as the threat of Islamist terror, after
high-profile attacks in France, Belgium and Germany over the past
year and a half.
"Even under the best of circumstances...we would not have the
resources and the political capital to fill the vacuum that the
U.S. leaves" if it disengages from Europe, said Jan Techau, a
foreign-affairs specialist at the American Academy in Berlin.
Mr. Trump's comments in his interview with Germany's Bild and
London's Times, largely restated things he had said before. But
they rattled EU foreign ministers gathering Monday in Brussels, who
had hoped he would moderate his stance as he prepared to take
office.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Mr. Trump's
comments underscored the need for Europeans to stand together. "As
is the case with Brexit, the best way of defending Europe, which is
rather what Mr. Trump has invited us to do, is to remain united,"
he said.
Politicians who want to weaken or dismantle the EU, on the other
hand, applauded Mr. Trump's remarks.
"He can see that Europe no longer works," said Louis Aliot, vice
president of France's far-right, anti-immigrant National Front.
"All reasonable politicians have realized that we must change the
European model and build a Europe of nations and not a federal
Europe."
EU officials signaled they would resist some of Mr. Trump's
policy proposals. In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica
Mogherini promised the bloc would "continue to work for the respect
and the implementation of" the Iran nuclear agreement--a deal Mr.
Trump has called "horrible."
Ms. Mogherini also urged Mr. Trump to consider the "serious
consequences" that would ensue if the U.S. followed through on his
election promise to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
and shift the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. She said such a
move could be destabilizing.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, German Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schäuble warned Mr. Trump against protectionist
trade policies.
"Whoever wants growth--and I trust this administration will be a
growth-friendly one--must be in favor of open markets," Mr.
Schäuble said. "Protectionism can afford short-term advantages but
is almost always damaging in the long term."
In his interview, Mr. Trump singled out German car makers for
criticism and threatened 35% tariffs on cars they import into the
U.S.
Mr. Schäuble also made a point of thanking U.S. intelligence
agencies for raising awareness of Moscow's propaganda activities
and other efforts to influence the direction of politics in the
West.
"Those who are not committed to democracy had better not
manipulate the democratic decisions of countries that are
inarguably democracies," said Mr. Schäuble. "We will resist
this."
Mr. Trump has played down any attempt by Russia to meddle in the
U.S. election, and has dismissed U.S. intelligence agencies'
conclusions that the Kremlin was trying to help him win as
politically motivated.
Germany has its own national election in September, and Mr.
Schäuble said Russia was engaged in a "propaganda war" to influence
the political environment in the country.
European officials said it was too early to divine Mr. Trump's
precise goals, especially since some of his nominees for top
foreign-policy and security posts voiced views in their Senate
confirmation hearings that clashed with the president-elect's
skepticism of the trans-Atlantic alliance.
In the weekend interview, Mr. Trump welcomed the steps NATO had
taken to focus more on terrorism, saying the organization was still
important to him.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Mr. Trump's
remarks went "against the statements of the nominated defense
secretary a few days ago. We have to see what it will yield in
terms of U.S. foreign policy."
-Bertrand Benoit in Berlin contributed to this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com and Anton
Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 16, 2017 15:10 ET (20:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.