The speech delivered by Council President António Costa on Monday, 8 December at the Jacques Delors Conference in Paris revealed deep divisions between Europe and the United States. Mr Costa sharply criticized the new US security strategy and described the United States as a country that “does not believe any more in a rules-based international order”.
According to Mr Costa, the EU must understand that the relationships between allies and the post-World War II alliances have changed. “Europe should act accordingly,” António Costa said in Paris. He underlined that “the new US National Security Strategy strategy continues to speak of Europe as an ally which is good (…) But if we are allies, we must act as allies. And allies do not threaten to interfere in the democratic life or the domestic political choices of these allies.”
“Official doctrine of the United States”
In his speech, President Costa placed the US National Security Strategy, published on Friday, in the context of previous documents and statements. “Vice President JD Vance’s speech in Munich and the several tweets from President Trump are now officially the doctrine of the United States,” Mr Costa said.
The United States no longer believes in multilateralism, in the rules-based international order, or in climate change. – António Costa, Council President
In the Council President’s view, “the United States no longer believes in multilateralism, in the rules-based international order, or in climate change (…) United States cannot replace Europe in its vision of freedom of speech. And on this, we must be clear. Our history has taught us that there is no freedom of speech without freedom of information. And freedom of information exists where there is respect for pluralism..”
Being allies, in Mr Costa’s view, does not necessarily mean to share exactly the same positions. “Europeans do not share the same vision as the Americans on various issues. This is natural. What we can not accept, however, is this threat of interference in Europe’s political life. The United States cannot replace European citizens in deciding which are the right parties and the wrong parties.” Council President underlined.
Kremlin praises US position
The US security strategy is the first one since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. The document differs strkingly from the course set by the administration of previous democratic President Joe Biden. The latter had sought to reinvigorate U.S. political and military alliances.
The President Trump’s strategy underlines that the United States wants to improve its relationship with Russia. The text reads that “ending the war (in Ukraine) is a core U.S. interest to reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”
The document (National Security Strategy of the United States) absolutely corresponds to our vision. – Dmitry Peskov, President Putin’s spokesman
Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said that the document “absolutely corresponds to our (Russian) vision.” Over the course of the Ukraine war, Russia has worked to drive a wedge between NATO allies, particularly between the United States and Ukraine’s European allies.
