US President Joe Biden hopes to restore confidence and galvanize allied democracies in Europe during the first international round of his presidency, which kicks off Thursday 10 June in the United Kingdom.
“Foreign policy has not been a priority for the administration, but Biden is sincere in this desire to renew and strengthen the transatlantic alliance,” Portuguese-American political scientist Daniela Melo, who teaches at Boston University, told Lusa.
“For Biden, this is the first opportunity in terms of foreign policy to move from words to deeds, in terms of global governance,” the expert considered, highlighting issues of COVID-19 vaccination, climate change, international trade and democracy. Itself.
In a White House briefing before the visit began, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan explained the administration’s goals with an eight-day agenda that will stop multiple times.
“This trip, in essence, will advance the fundamental thrust of Joe Biden’s foreign policy: stimulating the world’s democracies to meet the great challenges of our time,” Sullivan said.
The agenda includes the first summit between the United States of America and the European Union since 2014, which will address hot topics such as trade tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump, disputes related to subsidies for airlines, Boeing and Airbus and also the regulation of technology companies. .
Sullivan described: “At the US-EU Summit, the President and EU leaders will focus on aligning our approaches to trade agreements and technology,” so that democracies and no one else, not even China nor other authoritarian regimes, write the rules for trade and technology in the twenty-first century. “.
Through its participation in the G7 (seven advanced economies of the world) meeting in Cornwall, the Biden administration aims to support a minimum IRC of 15%, after the meeting of G7 finance ministers, and take on commitments related to weather, labor standards, anti-corruption and cyber-attacks of a kind The “ransomware” that has rocked major corporations in recent months.
“It’s an opportunity for us to start asking what the G7 will do to stop the reversal of democracy around the world, to ensure access to vaccinations in less developed countries, and to hold corporate tax evaders through tax havens to account,” said Daniela Melo. .
As Jake Sullivan said at the briefing, one of the things the White House wants to see come from the G7 is “the beginning of an action plan covering a number of critical areas,” which requires strengthening collective defenses against attacks from ‘ransomware’, to resolve how information about threats is shared. Between democracies and how to deal with the cryptocurrency challenge related to cyber attacks.
The adviser also said the United States wants the world to speak with one voice against countries, “including Russia,” that harbor cybercriminals or allow them to operate from their territory.
Biden will have the opportunity to say this in person to Russian President Vladimir Putin when the two leaders meet at the end of their visit in Geneva, after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Here we are looking forward to a new moment to redefine the relationship between Russia and the United States,” said Daniela Melo, considering that the meeting between Biden and Putin will be the most useful moment of the visit.
Americans expect to see a strong, cohesive, and calm Biden insisting on the priority issues of the external security of the United States, from cyberattacks to election interference, [oposicionista russo] “The intervention in Ukraine,” said political expert Alexei Navalny.
From the White House perspective, Jake Sullivan said Biden is embarking on his journey in a “position of strength” based on US progress in fighting the pandemic, projected growth that will contribute to a global economic recovery and a “renewed strength and purpose for Americans.”
In an op-ed published in the Washington Post on June 5, the president actually wrote that the trip aims to “realize America’s renewed commitment to its allies and partners, at a time of uncertainty and pandemic,” and to demonstrate the ability of democracies to rise to the challenges and deter new age threats. .
In addition to meetings with NATO allies, the first since 2018, Joe Biden will also meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and visit Queen Elizabeth II of England.
From the point of view of the US media and analysts, the trip will be overshadowed by the more acute domestic issues that preoccupied Joe Biden’s young presidency. In the forefront are the negotiations, which have so far failed, to agree to an economic package worth $2 billion (1.6 billion euros), aimed at modernizing the country’s infrastructure and creating jobs.
The president’s internal “headache,” as the Washington Post calls it, also includes a slowing pace of vaccination of American citizens and a faltering decline in the unemployment rate, as shown in the monthly employment report published on June 4.
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