French President Francois Hollande on Monday replied to United States president-elect Donald Trump's criticism of the European Union, saying that the EU "has no need for outside advice" on its affairs.
Donald Trump calls NATO 'obsolete' as he suggests 'good' nuclear deals with Moscow
Trump's criticisms were published on Monday in The Times of London and Germany's biggest-selling daily Bild, where he had called the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) "obsolete." He had also hailed Brexit and criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying that her decision to take in a flood of refugees was "catastrophic."
Trump, in the interview, had also said that Britain's decision to leave the EU was "a great thing" and said that soon many countries will follow suit and leave the EU. He had also said that Europe has been weakened because of its policies on refugees coming from war-struck countries.
"(...) If refugees keep pouring into different parts of Europe... I think it's gonna be very hard to keep it together because people are angry about it," Trump had said.
However, Hollande did not agree with the criticism of the EU countries."I say it here, Europe will always be willing to pursue transatlantic cooperation, but it will determine its path on the basis of its own interests and values. It has no need for outside advice to tell it what it has to do," Hollande said at a ceremony in Paris for outgoing US ambassador Jane Hartley.
Taking an aim at the Republican president-elect without mentioning his name, Hollande said that the relations between the United States and Europe "have always been founded on in the same principles and values. These values are called respect, mutual support at times of danger, but also commitment to democracy, the defence of freedoms, equality between men and women, the dignity of being a human being."
Responding to Trump's criticism of EU refugee policies, the French president also said that Europe's policy of offering asylum to those fleeing war and persecution is seated in a core value shared in Europe as well as America.
Hollande also responded to Trump's take on NATO and said that the coalition "will only become obsolete when threats become obsolete too. We are committed to our alliances, but we are also able to be self-sufficient strategically. This is what France has always defended, in the name of its independence, in total complementarity with NATO"
Donald Trump, in the interview with Times, had said that the organisation has been ignoring terrorism and was out of date.
"I said a long time ago that NATO had problems. Number one, it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago. I took such heat, when I said NATO was obsolete. It's obsolete because it wasn't taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right," Trump had said.
