Joe Biden declares the “transatlantic alliance is back” in a powerful speech
US President Joe Biden speaks virtually to the Munich Security Conference in Germany, from the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 19, 2021. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
Washington, Feb 19 (AFP/APP): President Joe Biden declared the “transatlantic alliance is back” Friday in a powerful speech seeking to reestablish the United States as leader of the West against what he called a global assault on democracy.
The address to the annual Munich Security Conference — held by video link because of the Covid-19 pandemic — dovetailed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming of a return to “multilateralism” after the confrontational years of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump. Making his first major international address on foreign policy since becoming president in January, Biden said traditional US allies should once again have confidence in Washington’s leadership.
“I’m sending a clear message to the world: America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back,” he said from the White House. “The United States is determined, determined to reengage with Europe, to consult with you, earn back our position of trusted leadership,” he said. Biden, who earlier spoke to leaders from the G7 club of wealthy democracies, said his administration was again stressing alliance building, in contrast to Trump’s isolationist policies and abrasive treatment of US partners.
“Our partnerships have endured and grown through the years because they are rooted in the richness of our shared democratic values. They’re not transactional. They’re not extractive,” Biden said in clear reference to Trump’s emphasis on redefining allies as economic rivals. Collective strength, Biden said, is the only way to succeed when a worldwide contest between democracy and autocracy is at an “inflection point.”
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