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US-NATO-EU-BLINKEN-POLITICS
Blinken to attend NATO meeting
WASHINGTON, March 19, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken will attend a NATO meeting next week in Brussels in a show of
American support for the alliance, the State Department said Friday.
“The meetings in Brussels reaffirm the United States’ commitment to our
Allies and European partners on our shared agenda,” department spokesman Ned
Price said in a statement.
Blinken’s March 22-25 trip is yet another illustration of a foreign policy
reset under President Joe Biden that stresses diplomacy and backing for long-
standing relationships after four years of “America first” isolationism in
which Donald Trump tended to treat other countries more as rivals than
allies.
Blinken will attend a NATO ministerial meeting for talks on concerns over
China and Russia, as well as climate change, cyber security, combatting
terrorism, energy security, and other “common challenges,” Price said.
America’s top diplomat will also confer with European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen and his EU counterpart Josep Borrell to discuss the
Covid-19 pandemic, global economic recovery, climate change and how to
strengthen democracy, Price said.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1838 hrs