Newly elected US president Donalds Trump, the nominee of the Republican party, will face a different geopolitical situation than the one that prevailed during his first term in office from 2017 until 2021, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly declared at a news conference in Riga after a 3+1 meeting of Baltic and Canadian foreign ministers.
Ms Joly pointed out that Canada worked with the Trump administration during his first presidency and that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just had a successful meeting with Tump at the Mar-a-Lago property on November 29.
Joly said that the meeting lasted for more than three hours and covered a wide range of issues, including trade, the border, the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as energy issues. The ambassadress insisted that such dialogue will continue in future.
The Canadian envoy also noted that since Trump’s first presidency, Russia has illegally invaded Ukraine, but NATO has become stronger in defending its member states. Canada, she said, has increased defence spending and will continue to do so.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said that her country has had a “wonderful working relationship” with all American administrations and that she looks forward to working with the new Trump Administration. Braze added that Latvia and other countries must invest more in defence, collective security and support for Ukraine because America will need allies.
Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have collaborated in the context of the war in Ukraine, said the foreign minister, and that is a signal that countries are uniting around Russia. It is no secret that China and Russia are trying to present themselves in a more positive light in various parts of the world, Ms Braze said, seeking to present themselves as global benefactors. She added, however, that China and Russia have been exploiting countries in Africa and elsewhere in the world for natural resources, and so promises made have not been promises kept.
“It is clear that Russia is an imperialist and colonialist state, and the invasion of Ukraine is a clear example of that,” Foreign Minister Braze declared. “Other countries which support Russia are also retaliating.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna recalled during the meeting that he was Estonia’s defence minister during the first Trump Administration. There were all kinds of speculations about what the new administration would be like and what would happen, but in the event, Estonia received more security support than it had done in the past, the minister explained.
Tsakhna went on to say that co-operation with America will not change. Estonia has long since worked with the United States to strengthen Transatlantic relations in the long term. The minister added that links which have been established are strong not just bilaterally, but also at the EU-US level.
The Estonian foreign minister also warned, however, that the situation has changed radically and that the situation right now is reminiscent of 1938, before the Munich Agreement was signed to allow Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a German-populated area which at that time was part of Czechoslovakia.
Margus Tsakhna argued that the problem goes beyond Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is also about impending changes in the world, asking what the global future will look like. Will countries be able to defend democratic principles, as well as international law and treaties?
“The US has been at the forefront of defending these values since the 1930s,” Mr Tsakhna said. “I have said publicly in the past that Trump has the potential of becoming a modern-day Winston Churchill or the equivalent.”
Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Egidijus Meilunas said that his country and the US have a Transatlantic relationship that focuses on close co-operation in areas such as security, defence and the economy. Meilunas added that Lithuania has boosted trade with the US during the past few years, and it will continue to work with America in many different areas.
Source: BNS
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