Describes a “turning point” for democracy advocates against “abuse and intimidation” by China and Russia
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has opted for collaboration between his country and Europe during his speech this Friday at the Munich security conference, his first appearance before the international community after his inauguration, and in a message that breaks with the isolationist policy marked by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
“The transatlantic alliance is back. America is back,” Biden said during his speech. “I am a man of my word. America has returned. Today I speak to you as president of the United States, at the very beginning of my administration, and I want to send this message: the transatlantic alliance is back. And we are not going to look back,” he declared. in an appearance in which he has established China and Russia as major “competitors” of the model defended by the Atlantic Alliance.
In this regard, Biden has backed his words with a commitment to respect NATO’s mutual defense guarantee, known as Article 5, something that former President Donald Trump initially refused to do while he was president. “We will keep faith in Article 5,” Biden said. “It is a guarantee. An attack on one is an attack on all. That is our unbreakable vow.”
As a sample, Biden has confirmed that he has stalled the order issued by Trump to withdraw the US contingent in Germany, one of the foundations of the US military presence in Europe.
“Our relationship has endured and grown through the years because it is rooted in the richness of our shared democratic values. They are not transactional. They are not mutually exclusive. They are based on a vision of the future in which every voice matters. Where people are protected rights of all and the rule of law is defended, “the president has made known.
“The United States will work closely with our European partners and all the countries of the continent,” the US president concluded in a speech in which he described a “turning point” in the history of world progress “among those who argue that, given all the challenges we face – from the fourth industrial revolution to a global pandemic – autocracy is the best way forward and those who understand that democracy is essential to meet those challenges “
In response, Biden offered an unmitigated defense of democratic values. “We have to show that democracies can deliver good results. This is our mission, in unity. Democracy does not happen by accident. We have to defend it. We have to fight for it, treasure it, renew it. I believe with every fiber of my being that it democracy must prevail. We have to show that our model is not a relic, “said the US president.
CHINA AND RUSSIA
In his speech, Biden has lashed out at China and Russia in what he has described as competing in a fierce race to the future. “We have to prepare for a long-term strategic competition with China,” the president said. “It’s going to be tough. That’s what I expect and that’s what I want,” he added, before asking the Asian giant to “play by the same rules” as the rest of the world before stressing the idea of ​​a united front in response to Beijing’s economic aspirations.
“We have to respond to the economic abuses and coercion of the Chinese government that obstruct the foundations of the international economic system. How the United States, Europe and Asia decide to work together to ensure peace and uphold our common values ​​will be one of the most important efforts that we are going to make “, he stressed. “We have to protect individual property and the creative genius derived from the exchange of ideas in a free and open society,” he added.
Just as critical he has been of Russia in a speech in which he has called on the Kremlin to refrain from resorting to intimidation tactics and to allow countries to choose freely and “without threat” their own future.
“Their leaders try to describe us as if we are as corrupt as they are. But the world, including Russian citizens themselves, knows that this is not true,” Biden said, before accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to “weaken the European project and transatlantic unity “because” it is much easier for the Kremlin to intimidate individual states than instead of negotiating with a united community. “
“The challenges with Russia are different from those of China, but they are just as important. This is not a showdown between East and West. We want a future where countries can choose their path without threats. We cannot return to the Cold War blocs, “added the president, who has claimed the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the conflict between Kiev and the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
