The United States’ rivals are expanding their political, military, and commercial influence in Central and Eastern Europe to the detriment of the Western alliance, A. Wess Mitchell, assistant secretary responsible for the US State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, said at the Atlantic Council in Washington on October 18.
He has revealed three principles that the US strategy towards central and Eastern Europe is guided by.
Firstly, America is going to compete for positive influence abroad by strengthening its public diplomacy and using economic methods.
Secondly, the country expects that those whom America helps will not support their rivals.
“Western Europeans cannot continue to deepen energy dependence on the same Russia that America defends it against. Or enrich themselves from the same Iran that is building ballistic missiles that threaten Europe,” Mitchell stated.
According to the top official, it is unacceptable that an American NATO ally backs Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 projects as well as nuclear deals that makes the region even more vulnerable to to the very Russia that these states joined NATO to protect themselves against.
Thirdly, America respects the national independence & sovereignty of allies. It is exactly what differentiates the West from the authoritarian regimes, Mitchell stressed.
“Today it is the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of frontier states like Ukraine, Georgia, and even Belarus, that offer the surest bulwark against Russian neo-imperialism,” he said.
In his opinion, Russia, which has again become a military factor in this region, following the invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, uses manipulative energy tactics, corruption, and propaganda to weaken Western nations and undermine their bonds with the US.
The United States should be seen as the protector of sovereignty as it rejects Russia’s territorial aggression against its neighbour Ukraine and [rejects] China’s predatory ‘debt-mongering’ throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the polician said.
belsat.eu, following Atlantic Council
