By Tuvan Gumrukcu
ANTALYA, Turkey, April 18 (Reuters) – Discussions are under way on how to manage or mitigate a possible U.S. withdrawal from the “European security architecture”, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday.
He gave no details of the discussions, but said such a withdrawal by the United States could be “destructive” for Europe if carried out in an uncoordinated way.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to pull his country out of NATO after European members of the Western military alliance refused to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz after the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Their decision compounded friction within the bloc, which had already increased since Trump said he wanted to acquire Greenland.
“We are very much discussing how to manage or mitigate the withdrawal of the U.S. from the European security architecture. Not totally, but partially. Even a partial withdrawal… would be very destructive for Europe if it’s not done in a coordinated way,” Fidan told a panel at a diplomacy forum in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.
Fidan, whose country is in NATO but not the European Union, said he had long voiced complaints about EU states in NATO “acting like a separate club”. They were taking decisions on their own, even if it contradicted the alliance’s position, he said.
“You want to be a separate EU organisation within NATO? Well America said ‘I’m letting you go, cutting off your ties’,” Fidan said.
Fidan called on allies this week to use a NATO summit in Ankara in July as an opportunity to reset ties with Trump and Washington, while preparing for a possible reduction of U.S. involvement.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said he understands Trump’s frustrations with the alliance, but that a large majority of European nations has been helpful to Washington’s war effort against Iran.
A senior White House official told Reuters this month that Trump, as part of frustration with NATO, had also considered the option of removing some U.S. troops from Europe.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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