"There are some high level representatives of the US president that have claimed it is more efficient to talk to the EU member states separately than to the EU on the whole. I think it’s a huge challenge. If [US President Donald] Trump really tries to disunite the European Union we will have a real problem, a great transatlantic conflict, as 500 million Europeans will have to take courage to tell the Americans: this is where the borders are," Ischinger said during a press conference in preparation for the 53rd Munich Security Conference, streamed live at the conference’s website.
The German diplomat said the fact that Trump’s White House tended to not see the European Union as an instrument to maintain peace and stability in Europe was a huge problem, adding that Europe currently was in a "state of maximum uncertainty," based among other reasons on the "current US policy that we can't define so far."
More than 500 top-level politicians are expected to take part in the annual Munich Security Conference that will take place on February 17-19 in the Bayerischer Hof hotel, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, as well as leaders of several countries.
The delegation of the United States will be led by Vice President Michael Pence and include Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly.
